Luck and Logic
by Kuricchi
Summary: A romance involving Nodoka and Saki. This story covers the same period as the anime, but this time Saki never fell out with Teru and instead attends Shiraitodai. The focuses of this story are yuri, mahjong and drama. Next update sometime in Nov.
1. Chapter 1 - First meeting

**Chapter 1- First meeting**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Saki, and certainly won't make any money from it in any way, shape or form. All credit goes to the wonderful managaka Kobayashi Ritz and the team that animated it.**

**About the story: I picked this up one day when I was suitably depressed about the lack of translated Nodoka x Saki material on the internet and it has become a useful go-to hobby of mine to add to it. It is far bigger than I ever thought it would become. Beware of yuri should you choose to read this child of mine.  
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**Note that I will occasionally use notes to indicate things I think are worth mentioning at the start and end of chapters. If a mahjong hand is confusing or if there is a noticable mistake please don't hesitate to point it out to me and any and all criticism is welcome, but don't feel pressured to review. I will write it whether I get 0 or 200 reviews. It really is a fun hobby of mine, so everything else is just a bonus.  
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**One more thing I would like to add before I quit this overly long segment (Would this be called an author's note, I wonder? It's certainly strange to consider myself an author of anything)- I will do everything I can to make sure neither Saki nor Nodoka (or anyone else for that matter) become too powerful, regardless of how tempting it is for me to do so, although Nodoka will be stronger than she is in the anime. Consider yourself warned.**

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Haramura Nodoka was angry. In fact it would be fair to say she was as angry as she could remember being in recent memory, and to make things worse she was live on television. She was not angry because she was losing, despite how likely that seemed. She had lost before, both online and in real life, but she had never quite felt like this. This is not the first time this girl who was the root of Nodoka's anger had been in the lead in a game of mahjong, and it was not the first time she looked utterly disinterested either.

Despite her frustration at her current situation she could not help but think about the first time she had seen this harbinger of irritation. Their first encounter was an uneventful and one-sided one, and Nodoka did not consider the meeting to be a fated one. She would not admit it to herself, but one day she would be sorely tempted to consider it as such regardless of how illogical it was.

It had taken place in a pretty albeit modest garden that was situated around the side of the hotel. The hotel was a grand building that was utterly packed with people who were involved in one shape or another with mahjong, and the girl had been quietly reading a book next to a tree away from the noise. It had been pure chance that Nodoka had passed that way, but the girl hadn't noticed her. Nodoka on the other hand had recognised her immediately; she was the main talk of the tournament after all.

It helped that Nodoka had watched several of the girl's matches on television, where she had become familiarised with the girl's appearance. She was a reasonably pretty girl with thick brown hair that reached down to her shoulders, and whilst she was mostly normal in appearance, her eyes were somewhat peculiar. They were a rare shade of dark red that was somehow striking. The girl, along with her sister was a big favourite of the press, but Nodoka wasn't sure the praise was wholly deserved. The girl was clearly talented, and Nodoka could not question her results, but to say the girl was reckless was more than a simple understatement.

In the end she did not approach the girl, although she had been sorely tempted. She was almost desperate to know why the girl felt the need to declare reckless kan all the time, but approaching her just to ask her that would have been extremely rude and so she endured it. Instead she reminded herself she would have a chance to see the girl in action at the team tournament final which was the one match of that particular tournament that Nodoka was in Tokyo for.

Nodoka had watched the entirety of that match, and the girl Nodoka was playing against now had entered the final round with a significant gap between her own team and the team in first place, yet her team won overall almost comfortably thanks to her captain's round. Whilst the girl absolutely deserved to win, it annoyed Nodoka that the girl looked so bored whilst she won the match. _Why does she even play if mahjong is so boring?_ Nodoka felt particularly bad for her opponents. _Losing to someone who doesn't even like mahjong must be extremely frustrating._ Nodoka had thought that at the time, and was finding it to be absolute in its truth.

Nodoka's own team were unfortunately swiftly defeated in the qualifiers previously in the year, although she couldn't blame luck there, or a bored opponent for that matter. Her team were not noticeably better or worse than the teams they had faced in the first round, so it wasn't much of a surprise when they went out. Nodoka thought it was slightly harsh that only the first placed team made it through each round, but she could understand it given the amount of teams that signed up for the tournaments. She far preferred the way it worked on the net, where bonuses were awarded for both second and first place, which made luck less of a factor in the long run.

Her middle school team's lack of success depressed Nodoka, and she would have far preferred to get to the final of that tournament, but it at least represented an advantage in the individuals. Nodoka knew the girl opposite's play style inside and out, whilst Nodoka herself was still a relative unknown despite her own undeserved media attention that she received far too much of. It's true that she won the prefectural individual tournament in Nagano, but there were many players who had won such tournaments and they did not seem to receive the same attention that Nodoka did.

Nodoka had managed to get a hold of the girl's play records from not only her own prefectural middle school tournament, both from the individuals and the team tournament, but also from several of her other tournaments. The records were acquired via a reporter who was largely responsible for Nodoka's own media hype, although she hadn't achieved nearly as much as the girl opposite her. Not in real life at least. The reporter's name was Nishida, and the records had cost Nodoka just a half-hour of her free time for a pre-match interview which she had given a few hours earlier.

Nodoka had studied the records so meticulously that she almost knew them by heart, whereas all of her own records were hidden behind her pseudonym on the internet. She had not sought out nearly as many records for her other two competitors, but then again they were not winning competitions against professional players. In truth, Nodoka hated looking up records of other players, but there was something about this girl's play records. Against most opponents Nodoka believed in her own play style to take her to the win, but she was less certain when it came to this girl, and judging by the current score her caution was well-founded.

However, even after studying the records so thoroughly she could not understand the girl's thought process and the so-called advantage certainly didn't seem to even slightly matter. Nodoka let the current score wash over her. _It's not over yet._ She looked up at the girl opposite, who glanced back at her, which for some reason caused Nodoka to find the need to quickly avert her eyes, and she could feel the blood rising to her cheeks in her embarrassment. She was usually fine with looking people in the eyes, but there was something about this girl's garnet-red eyes that unnerved her.

Perhaps it was the pressure of the situation that caused her to feel so flustered. Or maybe it was because of the dominating display the girl seated opposite to her displayed in the team matches and now in the individuals. She was just as reckless as ever but her current position in first could not be denied, nor could her status as the team tournament's Most Valued Player which was rightfully awarded to her. It could even have been the look in the girl's eyes. She did not just seem bored as in her previous matches, but somehow sad as well, as though this tournament was not good enough for her.

Nodoka supposed it could also simply be nerves. This was the first time she had reached the final of such a big competition, whereas the girl opposite her was back-to-back winner of the inter-middle team championships, and could soon be the back-to-back winner of the individuals as well. She had also played in other more prestigious tournaments where she had even beaten professional players. It was no coincidence that Shiraitodai started to win the middle school tournaments the year she began playing for their team. Whilst Nodoka did not appreciate her reckless style of calling Kan at every opportunity, she could still see the girl's talent in her game records.

Clever, tactical and logical play was right there alongside her illogical gambits and Nodoka thought the girl was above middle-school level, at least when she played logically like that. Nodoka had good reason to think she herself was above middle-school level as well however. There was not only one middle-school player who had one-upped pros at the table – Nodoka's own record online was better than that of a lot of professionals', so she was not about to give up now against a fellow middle-school player, no matter how highly rated she was.

The girl, in contrast to Nodoka herself, seemed to have nerves of steel. _No, that's not right. She just doesn't care enough to be nervous..._ Nodoka felt her fist clench around the hem of her skirt. _What happened to her to make her act this way?_ _She wasn't always like this… _The clips that Nodoka had watched of her early career showed her to be, for the most part, a cheerful, enthusiastic, albeit quiet player. And yet the only smile that ever graced her face during her recent games was a small, sad thing that did not remotely resemble the smile the cute young girl seemed to always have on her face as she played.

It was only the recent clips where she looked like this; a girl who looked like she had been defeated even after her victories. Her recent record was not quite as impressive as last year's either, and she had taken some surprise defeats although that wasn't enough to stop her from winning several tournaments, in particular those with her Shiraitodai team.

**South round 3- Oribe Agiri's Dealership- (Karatsu Middle school)**

A quiet "pon" from the girl woke Nodoka from her stupor. _A set of 6-Pins?_ Such a call could easily become a problem for Nodoka and she knew it. _If she has decided to just go for quick tanyao and other fast hands to extend her victory to end the match as soon as possible there may not be a lot that I can do about it._ Nodoka's dealership was up next so a cheap win for the girl opposite her would not be the end of the world, but that did not mean that Nodoka was prepared to give up on the win just yet.

"Chi!" she called clearly when the player to her left discarded a 4-wan. Nodoka prided herself on her speed. She could outrun this girl with a bit of luck, she was sure of it. A small win was not likely to do much here given the current point spread, but it was better than letting her win. "Pon" she called on that same Kaisei student when she discarded an 8 wan. She could do this, and she was soon in tenpai when she drew the last of the 6-pins. She looked up at the girl opposite. _Can you keep up with my speed?_

Even Nodoka was surprised when the player who discarded her winning tile was none-other than the Middle School team tournament MVP herself. "Ron! Tanyao and a dora. 2000 points please!" She said, too loudly. Nodoka was mournful of her manners, but it was the first time anyone had directly scored off of this girl during the match so far. It was a fairly meaningless win considering the point tally; she was still about 20,000 points down from the girl, but it meant that she was not infallible. _Logic is still the answer, and not any kind of reckless luck-reliant play style._

Winning hand- 2P 3P 4P 5P 6P 2S 2S [4W 5W 6W] [8W 8W 8W] (4P)

Dora indicator(s): - Hatsu

Yaku: Tanyao

"Oh… Okay." The girl said quietly, almost under her breath. Whilst she was pleased that the girl sounded slightly surprised, the meekness of the response did not please Nodoka. She didn't even look at Nodoka as she passed her the two point sticks. Nodoka glared holes into the arrogant inter-middle Team champion. _The cheek of it! This is the final of the individual Middle School tournament!_ Yet the girl still seemed like she didn't care at all and moreover now appeared to have decided it would be a good idea to be looking off into space somewhere.

**South round 4, Haramura Nodoka's Dealership (Takatoobara Middle School)-**

_If that's how it's going to be, then I'm going to give you the match of a lifetime._ It was Nodoka's dealership this round and the hand she received was full of potential. After quickly calculating several possible discards she went with one of her non-seat wind tiles, a west wind. It was the final hand of the first hanchan and Nodoka was not about to let this girl mock them any longer.

_This is perfect._ Her tiles came together nicely, and by the 9th turn she was able to declare riichi on a Haneman or even possibly a baiman if she was lucky enough to get an ura dora or an ippatsu. She decided that it was a good idea to Riichi with this extremely promising four-sided wait, and did not hesitate. Come the 13th turn, much to her delight, she drew one of her winning tiles.

"Tsumo" she declared calmly, "Riichi, honitsu, haku and a dora. That will be 6000 from everyone." She had taken first place, and it'd been almost too easy. To Nodoka's delight the arrogant girl across from her was staring wide-eyed at her. _That's right. You won't have it so easy this time._ Now it was just a matter of protecting the lead. _No, now's the time to use my dealership to extend this lead as much as I can in order to give myself the best possible chance to protect it in the next hanchan. A renchan here would really put the pressure on that girl over there._

There was also another possibility that Nodoka was aware of. The player on her right had only 10800 points left. _If I can just attack her directly with the next hand I could end this prematurely for an upset win! I can end this whilst I am the dealer right now!_

Winning hand- 1S 2S 3S 5S 5S 5S 6S 7S 8S 9S Haku Haku Haku (9S)

Dora indicator(s): 4P - 9W

Yaku: Tsumo, Riichi, honitsu, yakuhai

**South round 4, bonus round 1, ****Haramura Nodoka's Dealership (Takatoobara Middle School)-**  


Sadly, the hand she received on her first dealer repeat was not nearly on the same level of the hand on her previous draw. Nodoka did not mind, reliance on luck was for fools. "Pon!" she called, as soon as the opportunity presented itself. A quick (or as quick as she could make it, it really was a bad hand) tanyao was the obvious option with the hand she received, and would help extend her dealership into the next round. On the 15th turn however, the player to her left became the second player to score off of the girl opposite. "Pinfu, Iipeikou and a dora. 4200 with the bonus stick please." she declared solemnly. "Okay" once more from the girl and there was not even a hint of surprise this time.

Winning hand- 7W 8W 9W 3P 3P 4P 4P 5P 1S 2S 3S Pei Pei (5P)

Dora indicator(s): 8W

Yaku: Pinfu, Iipeikou

Nodoka frowned slightly as she glanced at the girl's discards. _It makes no sense to discard that red 5 pin there…_ _Could she have deliberately dealt in to the other girl's hand? Why would she do that?_ _To end my dealership?_ _With a dora tile of all things? I knew she was reckless but that's just unbelievable… _Nodoka was confused; her hand was getting nowhere fast anyway, and as far as she could tell 5-pins looked dangerous even for her own hand. She had nothing suji to a 5-pin there, nor any 5-pins themselves.

She supposed the girl couldn't know that Nodoka's hand wasn't progressing, but playing into someone else's hand was never a good idea, especially with a tile that seemed dangerous to all of the other players. Dumbfounded, she got out of her seat and headed for the lobby area. There would be a 5 minute break in between hanchan and Nodoka did not intend to spend it seated in the play area.

"Please wait, Haramura-san!" Nodoka had not gotten far before she felt a hand lightly grasp her arm. Annoyed, she turned around to find the inter-middle team tournament champion and MVP staring into her eyes. "That was fun!" she exclaimed excitedly and there seemed to be something completely different about the girl's atmosphere. _Where did the bored girl who was just sitting opposite me go?_ Nodoka was at a loss for words. _Doesn't she know how inappropriate it is for competitors to interact like this in the middle of a game?_

Nodoka was about to let the girl have it when she realised the uncaring look was completely gone from the girl's eyes, and that she seemed somehow happy. It worked to a vast contrast to the girl from earlier who wore the same clothes and the same face but whose smile was not a shadow of the one Nodoka was seeing now; it truly was a beautiful smile that lit up her face to great effect.

The girl seemed so enthusiastic and genuinely honest in the outburst and her smile was so bright that Nodoka felt herself blushing. She quickly looked away when she realised how she was ridiculously blushing in middle of the hallway, but she was struggling to respond to the sudden intensity of the girl. She forced herself to squeak out a "yes, I'm having fun too" and quickly found herself wondering what it was about the girl that flustered her so.

The girl was relentless. "Let's play again after this!" she said loudly, drawing stares from the people walking past.

Nodoka's eyes widened. "We are in middle of a match right now, you know?" she scolded, but she could not keep the amusement out of her voice. _This girl really is unbelievable. _"We have to be back in erm," Nodoka looked up and checked the clock, "right now actually."

"Okay then, Haramura-san!" Miyanaga Saki responded. Before Nodoka realised what she was doing, she grasped the girl's hand and began to lead her back to the play area. Nodoka was mindful of the blush that was threatening to set up shop for a good while on her face and even more mindful of the people gawking at her as she led the girl back to the match. She silently cursed herself for being so easily embarrassed.

The Shiraitodai High school team captain didn't understand what was going on. One problem was that her sister Saki had suddenly reverted back to her old +/- 0 style, and she was doing it in the middle of the final of the individual tournament no less. She seemed to be comfortably winning when out of nowhere the pink haired girl with the overly large chest had landed a seemingly unplanned direct hit on her. This was not a particularly troublesome problem. Teru had faith in her sister's ability to come back to win the game, even against the strongest of opponents, and this Haramura Nodoka did not seem particularly strong.

The real problem was that she could not find Saki during the Interim. _Where on earth has she gotten to?_ Saki was fully aware that she was supposed to stay by the exit and wait for someone to come and meet her there to make sure she didn't get lost. It was also true that when Saki was surprised by something during a match she would often fall apart, and Teru wanted to talk to her before she made it back to her match to make sure that she was holding it together.

She was relieved when she looked up at a monitor and saw her sister being led back to the playing area by the pink haired girl. _Holding her hand even? What on earth is going on with Saki today?_ The rest of the Shiraitodai team were just as confused. Oohoshi Awai, who was not able to enter the individuals this time due to exam re-sits, could not understand it either when Teru asked her about it. Teru did not have to feign surprise when the camera zoomed in on her sister's face, either. _She's smiling_? _Saki is smiling… whilst playing mahjong?_

The second hanchan was not going well for Nodoka so far. In the first hand of the new hanchan Miyanaga Saki, who was quickly becoming her bane, declared riichi on the first turn, and if that was not enough she then won by ippatsu tsumo for 2000/3900 points. That kind of luck seemed to follow her everywhere, although they had not seen any Rinshan Kaihous yet at least. This was obviously not much of a surprise; to specialise in such a rare yaku was the height of ridiculousness. She seemed like she was eager to get them though, and had already declared Kan several times in the first hanchan, even when it made no sense that Nodoka could make out to do so.

There were not any particularly large hands scored since her lucky double riichi, and the game had been mostly even with the other two girls at the table taking small victories as well. Whilst Nodoka had won a few hands herself it was clear was that there was a girl who was slowly but surely catching up with her. It was a girl with a beautiful smile. "Tenpai" Nodoka announced at the end of the latest round. Nodoka let out a sigh of relief when the girl who had been assigned the seat opposite to her once more declared she was no-ten. Her last dealer round was finished, leaving only two hands left.

Nodoka knew the risks associated with being last dealer. A direct hit could easily end her hopes of winning the championship in the cruellest way possible; being leapfrogged in the last hand of the last hanchan. Tsumos were also far riskier and would be easier to overtake her with. Winning the penultimate hand here with a decent hand so that she could just defend in the last hand would probably be the best case scenario. "Pon!" she called on a set of 5-wans. _Cheap and fast is the logical path to victory here. _

"Ch-" Nodoka started as the girl to her left discarded her 2-sou… only to be interrupted by the girl opposite.

"Kan!" Miyanaga Saki announced. Nodoka immediately noticed this was not the meek voice of the first hanchan that was being used, but the excited and enthusiastic voice of the girl who had just assaulted her in the lobby. Nodoka could not help but let out a startled "oh," sound as the girl took her tile from the dead wall. She discarded a red 5-sou from her tiles.

Nodoka frowned. There were now three 5-sous in the pond, and Miyanaga Saki was in possession of all of the 2-sous making her own 3 and 4 sou tiles all but worthless. Nodoka was at a loss. _Is this a trap?_ _It's obvious that I'm going for Tanyao, which means a wait for a 3 or a 4 sou would likely trap me here… and this girl is smart enough to know that._ _But what are the chances of her being tenpai after that kan anyway_? Nodoka wanted to risk it but knew it would be wiser to bail at this point. She would be leapfrogged with any kind of direct hit, and if it were large it could easily ruin her chances of a victory. She had to minimize that risk.

Frustrated, she discarded a 4 pin that was already present in the girl's discards, ruining one of her melds in the process. She looked up at the girl responsible for forcing her to bail like this, but she was already looking right back at her, and moreover she was smiling again. Nodoka immediately felt herself blush and she again had to look away. _What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be getting embarrassed like this here in such an important match! I need to concentrate now, more than ever!_

Nodoka almost gasped when the girl to her right then proceeded to discard a 4-sou. It was the first sou tile she had discarded that hand apart from a single bird tile at the start of the hand. _She must have had the same sequence as me…_ Instantaneous despair set in for the girl, "Ron. Just a honitsu, 3900 please." Miyanaga Saki called out, still smiling and even taking a moment to glance in Nodoka's direction who could not find it in herself to return the gaze. The poor girl, now surely out of the running with her dealership ended, hung her head in disappointment. Nodoka actually did gasp when she saw the revealed hand. _It would have been a mangan if she hadn't called that kan_… _She really is such a reckless… and such a talented player._

Winning hand- 4S 7S 7S 8S 8S 9S 9S Xia Xia Xia [2S 2S 2S 2S] (4S)

Dora indicator(s): 4W

Yaku: Open Honitsu (worth 2 han)

Yaku without the kan: Closed Honitsu (worth 3 han), Iipeikou (1 han)

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Ohhh myyy goddd and for the very last round our two frontrunners are neck and neck! What do you make of this situation Kokaji-pro?"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "Special credit has to go to our dark horse, Haramura Nodoka. She's somewhat surprisingly lived up to her hype, and she certainly showed her skill in that last hand, avoiding Miyanaga Saki's trap like that."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Surprisingly? Envy is an ugly emotion, you know?"**

**Kokaji Sukoya:"Wha~?! It just… I didn't mean… I just meant she hadn't played an opponent of Miyanaga Saki's calibre before today... Anyway… When she called that kan, Miyanaga Saki appeared to draw that 4 sou from the dead wall on purpose, setting herself up for a single wait on another 4-sou for her pair."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Surprisingly high level play here at the middle school individuals! As to be expected of the Middle school team tournament's MVP and champion!"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "The surprise is that it's not just her… It's well-known of course that Miyanaga Saki has even won tournaments where my fellow professionals competed, and so it was expected for her to comfortably take the win here today. She is the only middle-school mahjong player playing in this tournament who has beaten a professional in an official match at all… and there are not even many players at college level who have managed that, never mind middle school players. I expect the last round to be exciting."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "You heard it here first, folks. Haramura Nodoka still holds a slender lead over Miyanaga Saki at the start of this last hand! Can Shiraitodai Middle Schools' Miyanaga Saki take the hand for a come-back victory or will Takatoobara Middle Schools' Haramura Nodoka hold on?"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "Erm… Those aren't the only two players playing you know…?"**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "AND WE ARE OFF!"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "We still have several minutes whilst they draw before the next hand begins…"**

Nodoka could not calm down. She did not think it would ever be this close. Even the two players dwindling behind could come back to win with a sufficiently large hand at this point and she was a mere 800 points ahead of the girl opposite which meant that the smallest win would give either of them the victory. _I just need to calm down. Be rational, concentrate and give myself the best odds of winning this hand. It doesn't matter who my opponent is, I just need to play my own Mahjong. If I can just win this hand or force a draw whilst I am in tenpai or even if someone other than that one girl directly hits someone else I will win! Please just let me win here the odds are in my favour no matter how you look at it!_

She locked eyes with Miyanaga Saki, and she did not look away this time. She was not going to back down now. She was ready and she was willing to fight for this win. Nodoka knew that speed was still the key here. It didn't matter how much she won by as long as she won. _No one will be able to keep up with me! _

**Fukuyo Kouko: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are actually off! Haramura Nodoka leads off as the final dealer; let's see how this one plays out!"**

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**Mahjong terminology:**

**Winning hands. **

**XW (where X is a number) is for man tiles. Ie. 1W = 1-wan**

**XP indicates pin tiles. Ie. 2P = 2-pin**

**XS indicates sou tiles. Ie. 5S = 5-sou**

**Xia = West wind**

**Ton = East wind**

**Pei = North wind**

**Nan = South wind**

**Chun = Red Dragon**

**Hatsu = Green Dragon**

**Haku = White dragon**

**Now for the hands themselves. **

**Open calls are always depicted by []. Ie [Chun Chun Chun] = called set of red dragons.**

**This goes for open kan as well. [1W 1W 1W 1W] = Open set of 1-wans. This terminology will be the same for both late and open kans. This means that if someone calls a pon of a tile, then adds the fourth later it will be written in the same way a kan called directly from a discard will be.**

**Closed kans are different, they will be indicated by {}. Ie. {4S 4S 4S 4S} = Closed kan of 4-sous.**

**The winning tile is indicated by (). Ie. (5S) = hand won with a 5-sou, regardless of whether it was won by tsumo or ron. This will always come after the hands themselves.**

**Dora indicator: This is the tile that is visible on the dead wall. Ie. if the dora indicator is 4S, that means that the 4-sou is the new dora indicator, but the new dora is actually the 5-sou.**

**Ura dora: Denoted by - after the dora indicator. Works in the same way as above.**

**Example hands.**

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**Winning hand- [1P 1P 1P 1P] {2P 2P 2P 2P} {3P 3P 3P 3P} 4P 4P 4P 5P (5P)**

**Dora indicator(s): 4S, Nan, 6W, 1W**

**Yaku: Tsumo, Chinitsu, Toitoi, Sanankou, Sankantsu, Rinshan Kaihou**

**Explanation: Saki's winning hand against Koromo in the anime. The 1-pins are an open kan, the 2 and the 3-pins are closed kan. She won with the red 5-pin from the dead wall. Doras are not included in the yaku. The comma seperates each kan dora (and its paired ura dora, if applicable)  
**

* * *

**Example of riichi with a kan:**

**Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 4W 5W 6W 7W 8W 9W 4P {8P 8P 8P 8P} (4P)**

**Dora indicator(s): 5W - 2P, Nan - 8W**

**Yaku: Riichi, Tsumo, Ittsu.**

**Explanation: In this hand, the player recieves 3 han for dora, one normal dora, and two ura dora. The 5W makes the 6W a dora, the 3P makes the pair of 4-pins dora as well. The kan adds a normal dora, and if the player who is in riichi wins they get an ura dora as well. The ura doras are always to the right of the -'s whilst the normal doras are to the left. Each pair is seperated with a comma as before.  
**


	2. Chapter 2 - Promise

**Chapter 2- Promise**

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_That girl…_

Nodoka was lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling.

_This girl… Miyanaga-san. _

It was the night of the final and the plan was to travel back to Nagano the following morning. That was what the plan used to be at least, but somehow Nodoka had been convinced to stay and participate in a mini-Shiraitodai training camp. _What is wrong with me? I'm going to have to go ahead and make all kinds of new travel arrangements. Why did I agree? It's not like me at all to do something like this on a whim._

Nodoka closed her eyes, lost in thought and sighed. _She has no tact at all. _Nodoka glanced at the girl who was sleeping next to her and once more wondered what on earth she was doing there. After the lucky win Miyanaga Saki had not let Nodoka out of her eyes for a second. Nodoka was not bitter about the loss, luck was a part of Mahjong and it would be unreasonable to be resentful about it when the girl obviously deserved her place in the final, but it was certainly a lucky win.

Regardless of the fact that Nodoka understood, rationally speaking, that she couldn't complain too much about the loss, Nodoka was still disappointed when she lost the final hand, and was hoping to get away from the tournament area so that she could compose herself for the inevitable interviews. Nodoka told her opponents 'thank you for the game' with a bow after the match ended, and she meant every word. Such a comment was usually just a mannerism, but Nodoka enjoyed the experience despite the result.

Expecting to get the standard response Nodoka had started to get up out of her seat, except Miyanaga Saki had other ideas. The girl did not waste any time in manoeuvring around the table to grasp her own right hand in both of hers. "Thank you so much!" She said, without a hint of shame or restraint. Nodoka had dutifully reminded her to watch her manners at that; Nodoka was not her only opponent after all. At the very least the girl had the good grace to act embarrassed before apologising and running through the post-game formalities as Nodoka had before her.

In the end they gave a joint interview, which the interviewers seemed to enjoy, overly so in Nodoka's opinion. All it had taken was a news crew spotting them hand in hand, leaving the tournament room together. She had never been so embarrassed in her life and she spent the entire interview with a scarlet red face. It was fortunate that the girl had relented and released Nodoka's hand before the interview started_. I don't think I would have been able to cope with giving an interview whilst holding the hand of the girl who beat me. _

The interview was fairly typical. Nodoka made the right noises in the right places in order to get it over with, but when asked about their relationship Miyanaga Saki did not even hesitate in saying that they were good friends. _I wonder what she meant by that. I've never even talked to her before. _Nodoka opened her eyes to find the girl's face, not even a yard away from her own. _Her face… She somehow looks absolutely secure… _Miyanaga Saki had fallen asleep quickly, and had even deliberately taken Nodoka's hand into her own before doing so. _She must really trust me to be able to do that… but why? She doesn't know me at all._

Nodoka's mind drifted back to their earlier game together. _But of all things, winning by Rinshan Kaihou? _Nodoka could still scarcely believe it. She could have sworn that the girl did not even look at her tile before she declared tsumo. That kind of luck was almost too much. The girl had ridiculously and almost eagerly declared an open kan from one of her own discards, even though her hand was completely closed at that point, and whilst it made sense in the previous hand because of the impressive trap, in the final hand she didn't even have another yaku. Despite that ridiculous move she had won with a rinshan kaihou with the tile from the dead wall.

Nodoka had been expecting to spend the night in her own hotel room. She was just finished talking on the phone with her father when the girl showed up at her hotel room… _It was past 9 o'clock as well…_

"Yes okay Father. I will be back in a few days. Goodbye." She placed the phone into the receiver and sighed. It went easier than she could have expected, but it was definitely a slightly awkward conversation as their conversations always were when mahjong was involved. She told him that the high school mahjong tournament was due to start soon, and Shiraitodai were apparently okay with her joining them for their pre-tournament preparation, and he seemed surprisingly content with her decision.

He had apparently read that doing this well in a Mahjong tournament opened up all kinds of possibilities when picking out a new school which was the reason he gave for his leniency, even whilst laughing about how much stock such a luck-based game was given. She wondered how he would react if he knew she was planning on following her friend Yuuki to wherever she went. _ Ah well, that's a problem for another time, there's no point in worrying about it now._

At the small awards ceremony Miyanaga Saki was supposed to stand slightly ahead of Nodoka for the pictures. She had come in first after all, and yet she hung back and stood next to Nodoka, rudely paying nearly no attention to the people who were taking her picture or the people who had awarded her the small trophy. She spent the entire ceremony trying to convince Nodoka to stay in Tokyo for a few days, and to Nodoka's continued astonishment she accepted the offer.

Nodoka couldn't figure out why the people in charge of that ceremony let her get away with the rude behaviour. She couldn't figure out why she herself had let the girl get away with it either. What was most surprising wasn't her own acceptance of the girl's invitation, but Nodoka's realisation that she actually really wanted to stay in the capital and was happy that she had been invited.

Nodoka was never sure what Miyanaga Saki was thinking, and was often confused by the girl's brazenness and her actions in general. In fact, she was not convinced that she had even sought anyone at Shiraitodai's permission to invite her at any point. She had asked Nodoka to join before she even had the chance to say more than a brief word to her team-mates and hadn't spoken to her coach at all as far as Nodoka could tell. Nodoka let out yet another sigh; when you were hyped to the degree that Miyanaga Saki was you could no doubt get away with things like that.

Once she hung up from the call, there was soon a knock on the door. _Who could that be at this time of night? _She remembered moving from the phone over to the door, before quickly taking a peak through the looking hole. It was of course Miyanaga Saki but she was also accompanied by a blonde, blue-eyed girl who looked about the same age who she didn't know, who turned out to be Oohoshi Awai.

"Hello? Miyanaga-san?" She said as she opened the door.

"Haramura-san!" The girl replied, surprisingly enthusiastically. The blonde girl eyed her warily and stayed quiet as Miyanaga Saki grasped her hand once more before Nodoka could say another word. _What is with this girl and holding hands? And who is this blonde girl? _When Nodoka thought about it she recognised her. She was one of the players who played prior to Miyanaga Saki during the team tournament. _So this is Oohoshi Awai, Shiraitodai's Middle school teams' Lieutenant. Miyanaga-san would have been even further behind first place in the final round without this girl's large point gain._

Miyanaga Saki didn't notice the slightly awkward atmosphere that was in the air. Nodoka turned to the young blonde girl "Hello, nice to meet you." she said, bowing politely.

Oohoshi Awai laughed at that, and after she was finished with the rude outburst she turned to Miyanaga Saki without even responding, "Her boobs really are huge!" she exclaimed. Nodoka was extremely embarrassed by the words. _Unbelievable this school, don't they have any manners?_ Nodoka was annoyed and was feeling uncomfortable by the way she had been talked to by this girl she didn't know, and she didn't know how to respond.

Miyanaga Saki actually saved her though, turning to her blonde friend, and in a surprisingly chiding voice told her off. "That's not nice at all, Awai-chan. You shouldn't act like that. How do you think Haramura-san feels?" Oohoshi Awai looked back at her mournfully and muttered what might have been an apology.

"Anyways, Haramura-san," Miyanaga Saki turned to her with a smile. "I was hoping you would come eat with us in the cafeteria and then come with us back to the Shiraitodai room."

"Pardon…?" Nodoka stammered, "I'd like to eat with you but isn't it a bit late to be going to your room?"

"But haven't you only booked this room for today?" Miyanaga Saki asked her. Without even waiting for a reply she continued, "I was hoping Haramura-san would stay with me in my room, whilst Awai-chan here shares with onee-chan. I suppose you have tonight booked but why wait?" She asked with the same cheerful smile on her face. She gestured towards Nodoka's suitcase in the hall, "You seem to be packed up at least" Nodoka didn't know what to say to that.

"She blushes easily, doesn't she Saki-chan?" Oohoshi Awai pondered aloud. _That kind of comment doesn't help!_

Still though, it was a nice offer and Nodoka found that she couldn't turn it down, and that is how Nodoka came to be sleeping, hand in hand with and alongside the famous Miyanaga Saki of Shiraitodai on the same night she had been defeated by her. Nodoka couldn't help but enjoy the soothing sound of the girl's breathing in the dark, and the warm embrace of her hand and how trusting the girl was of her despite all of the reasons she had to not trust her. Nodoka realised faintly that she trusted the girl back, and didn't understand that either. Fortunately, the irrationality of it didn't seem to matter for once and sleep came easily for Nodoka that night.

The next few days were surprisingly uneventful, and even lacked in actual Mahjong. In fact it would have been ridiculous to call it a Mahjong camp at all. She barely exchanged a word with the elder Miyanaga, and didn't ever play against her in a game. Nodoka felt that was a missed opportunity; not many people had the privilege to play the high-school individual tournament champion in a practise match.

Weirdly, she did not pursue such a match at all, against Miyanaga Teru or her younger sister. Instead she spent the few days she gained just walking around Tokyo for the most part, relaxing in the hotel, doing nothing in particular and holding hands with Miyanaga Saki. _I wonder what I would have said not even a week ago if someone told me I would be holding hands with this girl like this…_ However, Nodoka was finding that it was impossible for her to say no to the girl. Holding her hand felt somehow relaxing and the simple act was surprisingly enjoyable, and she did not regret that inability to say no at all during those brief days.

She quickly came to realise how fond she was of the cute girl who had beaten her in the final of the individual middle school tournament. She was kind, genuinely honest and easy to talk to. For the first time in her life Nodoka had found someone she liked being clingy with, and better than that the girl bafflingly seemed to enjoy and even return her clinginess. She wasn't at all like Nodoka had thought before their match together. Arrogant and uncaring were words Nodoka wouldn't dream of using to describe the girl now.

Nodoka also liked the way she was clumsy, and would literally get lost if Nodoka wasn't there to hold her hand and lead her around. She had already gotten lost twice when they separated for silly things like going to the bathroom, and Nodoka didn't mind using it as an excuse to just never separate. According to Oohoshi Awai, Miyanaga Teru was worried that her sister would not make it back to the tournament room during the interim between the hanchan, and that she had been visibly relieved when she saw Nodoka leading her back. Nodoka liked the idea being needed by Miyanaga Saki, even if it was just for a trivial reason like her tendency to get lost.

The time when she would be forced to leave the capital was approaching all too fast however. She would not have a chance to see the girl she had taken such a liking to until the national high-school tournament which was at least a year away, and that was if and only if they both made it there at all, in either the individuals or the team-tournament.

Her Father was not able to move from Nagano for at least a year, so joining Shiraitodai was out of the question. The thought admittedly depressed her, which frustrated Nodoka. _Just a year or two ago I would have been happy with just one friend, and now I am depressed because Yuuki and Maho aren't good enough for me? I'm awful. I… really wish I could spend more time with Miyanaga-san though._

Nodoka couldn't resist the temptation of dreaming about a solution where, somehow, Miyanaga Saki could be convinced to come back to Nagano with her. She would have to convince her Father to take the girl in and Miyanaga Saki's mother that she should give up on Shiraitodai, a really good school in order to go to whichever backwater school Yuuki ended up choosing. Because it was Nagano, It would likely be in the middle of nowhere, and Nodoka would be the only person Miyanaga Saki would know, and she had only known her for four days in total.

Nodoka knew there was no chance of it happening, but that did not stop her from daydreaming somewhat illogically about it. _We could play on a school team together… She would be the captain and I could be the vice-captain… I would meet her on the way back from my matches… I would wish her good luck and tell her to work hard. _She was actually in the middle of daydreaming about the absurdly ideal situation when she got the surprise of her life. Miyanaga Teru had approached her out of the blue and did not even hesitate in asking her if there was a chance she could move to Tokyo to join their school.

_Miyanaga-san's sister is straight to the point, I see. _Apparently the younger sister had been depressed ever since their Father had died recently in a car crash, and was just going through the motions in Mahjong in order to secure a place at Shiraitodai in order to lessen the burden on their Mother. _Is that why she looked so disinterested during our game? I guess I was too quick to be angry with her in that game..._ However, Nodoka could not help but be sceptical of the idea that Miyanaga Saki had somehow found joy in life just because she played against herself in a game of Mahjong. _There must be more to it than that._

When Nodoka voiced this concern carefully to the intimidating Miyanaga Teru she just shrugged and admitted she didn't understand it either, but that she was willing to try anything to see her sister happy again. Teru went on to somewhat rudely say that Nodoka seemed like nothing special on the Mahjong table to her, and that she couldn't understand why Saki felt the need to revert back to her old habit of scoring +/- 0 points in a hanchan against her.

"Wait, her what?" Nodoka was not happy about being dismissed as a Mahjong player by such a prestigious player, but she could not but help comment on that last thing Miyanaga Teru said.

"My sister, she has, or rather had this habit where she played to land on +/- 0 points. You must have noticed how strange it was when she played into that other girl's hand in the first hanchan?"

"I did in fact, but playing for +/-0 points? That's impossible." Nodoka insisted.

Teru didn't react at all to Nodoka's point and instead continued with her own proposal. "Well anyway," she said, "I'm sure Shiraitodai would offer you a place if you showed an interest in the school. It's usually pretty hard to get in but they relax their requirements for good mahjong players. I would be able to write you a letter of recommendation, and you came second in the inter-middle individuals. I could get the rest of the first team players to write letters too but I don't think that would be necessary."

"I'm afraid it won't happen," Nodoka admitted, "My father will be stuck in Nagano for at least a year with work."

Teru answered immediately. "Shiraitodai is a boarding school Nodoka. That wouldn't be a problem; you could even share a room with Saki. For holidays you could visit your family or stay with us. Shiraitodai also allow students to remain on campus, although I wouldn't recommend it." She seemed to have planned this conversation, and Nodoka became flustered at the idea of living in the same room as Miyanaga Saki all year. The target of their mutual interest had reappeared however and was making her way towards them, and Miyanaga Teru immediately changed course, although her tone of voice remained eerily the same. "I do not want to discuss this in front of her, so let's leave it at that."

Later that evening, whilst Miyanaga Saki was in the bathroom, she tried quietly bringing up the subject with her Father on the phone. She was rejected out of hand of course, and she knew full-well that he would not budge from his position. She wouldn't have normally accepted something so important on a whim like this either. Resigned to a life without the girl, she conceded and promised to be home in a few days. In truth, she was actually quite relieved at the development, and had always known how her father would react. It was a shame that she had so little time with Miyanaga Saki, but the idea of leaving friendships like the ones she had with Maho and Yuuki behind was a depressing and all-too-familiar thought.

The goodbyes were not easy. Only Miyanaga Saki was there to see her off, but if anything that just made things harder. With tears in her eyes, Miyanaga Saki broke off the hug with her. "Will I see you again?" she asked.

"I will see you again at the inter-high tournament. I promise you I will make it there!" Nodoka responded defiantly. _I will do everything I can to make it there. _She reached her hand tentatively to Miyanaga Saki's face, and found herself gently stroking the area around her eyes. _Please don't cry Miyanaga-san._ Nodoka, realising she was also in tears, blushed heavily. "I'm so sorry" she said, "I'm such a mess."

Miyanaga Saki gently shook her head, and smiled. Wordlessly she suddenly brought up her left hand, little finger out-stretched. "Promise we will see each other at the nationals?" She whispered. Nodoka took her up on her promise gratefully, and engraved the memory onto her heart.


	3. Chapter 3 - Preperation

**Chapter 3- Preperation**

**Note: Maho is one year older in this story than she is in the manga/anime.**

* * *

That was the last time Nodoka saw Miyanaga Saki, though their promise was never far from her mind. She even dreamed about it. Since those few days in the capital Shiraitodai's team had been hailed as possibly the best high-school team in the inter-high's history in the press and Nodoka thought it was probably deservedly so. They won a big tournament in spring comfortably with the older Miyanaga as vanguard and the younger Miyanaga as Captain, and they also possessed another player lauded as a national-class monster, the blonde girl Oohoshi Awai that she had met in Tokyo.

Nodoka found that she hated that term. Calling that sweet, shy girl she had had so little time with a monster angered her to no end. It was to the point where her hand unconsciously rolled up into a fist and she would not be able to calm down at all for minutes sometimes when someone used the word to describe her. She realised she was being irrational about it but that didn't make things any easier and it wasn't just the cruel connotations of the word that irritated her. It was also the way it implied their luck was some kind of super-natural force which was just absurd. _People look to the most ridiculous of excuses when they lose._

Despite it all, Nodoka felt a real sense of relief at her own irrationality. During her brief time in Tokyo she had been amazed at how quickly and how deeply she was able to connect with another human being. She had once thought such a thing was something she would never experience, as she was a quiet, soft-spoken and slightly withdrawn person when it came to being social.

It had taken Nodoka years to make friends whilst she lived in Nara, and she had only really connected with those girls through mahjong, and had lost all contact since she left. It had also taken years for her to meet Yuuki and Maho, which was just sheer luck no matter how you looked at it. Yuuki had just bumped into her whilst she was in a rush, and Nodoka had mentioned that she reminded her of her old friends which somehow sparked a valuable friendship, leading her to meet Maho as well.

On the train back from Tokyo there was a sceptical and evil voice in her mind that tormented her about the idea that she had over-estimated the bond she had created with the girl constantly, making the trip even more miserable than she had predicted. The voice whispered to her that Miyanaga Saki wasn't actually that important to her. It whispered that relationships were fleeting, that the four day friendship was meaningless in the long run, and that Nodoka would forget about it quickly enough and worse than that; that Miyanaga Saki would forget it as well. But Nodoka still thought about her every day, and was determined to keep her promise to make it to nationals regardless of whether the girl had forgotten about her or not.

That presented another problem however. Nodoka was worried about her new schools' chances qualify for the nationals. She had confidence she would qualify for the individuals, but luck was a big part of mahjong, and she had promised that she would make it. Maximising her chances meant attempting to qualify via the team tournament too. Their team so far had quite a lot of potential as far as Nodoka could tell, but they also had some obvious problems.

Yuuki was downright terrible after the east round, and Maho was just plain weird. She would have hands where she was explosive in the east round like Yuuki, or where she played with logical precision that even rivalled her own play, but those hands were few and far between. When she wasn't having a rare hand where she was really good, she was so hopeless that she often even committed beginner-style errors like knocking tiles off the wall and declaring riichi whilst she wasn't in tenpai. She would have to fix that kind of thing if they wanted any chance of qualifying for the nationals.

Mako in contrast seemed extremely reliable and skilled defensively, even if she didn't seem like she'd ever be a big point getter and Takei Hisa their president seemed to be the best of them, with extremely good decision making the majority of the time, and high potential to score a lot of points. She unfortunately also had an awful habit of picking bad waits deliberately, and when Nodoka confronted her about this she just spouted some superstitious nonsense at her. Nodoka could not get through to her when she argued against them, even though the girl freely admitted that logic was on Nodoka's side.

They also had a sole male member, named Kyoutarou Suga. He was objectively hopeless in every hand however and had next to no redeeming qualities at all when it came to mahjong. Luckily the female bracket and the male bracket were already separated at inter-high level (and even inter-middle level), meaning they wouldn't have to include him as a substitute. Nodoka didn't like being so cynical and judgemental, but she was determined to make it to the nationals and the promise she had made was more important to her than the feelings of any one person, including Suga or even her own.

At any rate there was basically no hope of making it through the team tournament in Nodoka's honest opinion unless they improved quickly. It was times like this when Nodoka really wished that Miyanaga Saki owned a mobile phone. She could really do with talking about these problems and trying to come up with a solution.

"Saki…." Teru started, "I don't think they will make it. They are in the Nagano prefecture, which means they will be up against that little girl with the bunny ears. That girl was on our level last year, you saw her yourself."

"Maybe you are right onee-chan, but I believe that Haramura-san will think of something!" Saki was looking back at Teru with a determined look on her face. Teru had to wonder why she was so protective of the girl she spent just four days with so many months ago. It was a shame she didn't come to Shiraitodai really. The girl was no national class monster, but she was good enough that Teru would raise no questions by drawing her into her team, even if just as a substitute, which would have made Saki happy at least.

"She was eliminated in the first round in the inter-middle school team qualifiers," She pointed out.

Saki pouted, "Isn't there a way we can help her at all? Maybe set up a joint-training camp or something?"

Teru sighed. There was no chance the coach would approve of something like that, as Saki well knew. "We should concentrate on ourselves," She said, "I don't doubt that we will make it through the regional qualifiers, but the nationals have real competition, even for us. Rinkai had an amazing line-up last year, and it's supposed to be even stronger this year. They have that Satoha girl as their vanguard now who I played against last year in the final of the individuals, and other new champion Mahjong players as well. You should make sure to prepare yourself for the individuals. Haramura Nodoka might actually qualify for that tournament." Teru thought that that was also far from certain, but she had enough tact not to mention that opinion.

Awai had walked into the club-room whilst Teru was speaking. She now wrapped her arms around Saki and pulled her into a close hug. When she began talking she had a wicked smile on her face, "Still love-sick because you miss that pink haired titty monster, Saki-chan?" she teased. Saki blushed a deep red and started giggling and was soon messing around with Awai. Teru was relieved. _Thank goodness, Awai has always been good at lightening the atmosphere._ She sat back and continued reading her book.

Hisa was not sure what she should do. At this rate they would not make it to the team tournament. She had seen Amae Koromo's records; they had no one who could deal with her at all. She had an ace up her sleeve but she did not know how to use it. She needed to shake Nodoka, Yuuki and especially Maho up. She picked up the phone and dialled.

"You are evil" was the response she got from the ever dependable Mako when she heard what Hisa wanted. She shrugged. This was her only chance to go to nationals after all.

Nodoka could not believe what was happening. The woman with the weird yet striking outfit had won every round so far, and she always seemed to save it till the last round, where she would leap-frog Nodoka and land consistently in first place. The first time it happened she had leapt to her feet out of shock. She had never been so perfectly sniped in her life. A single wait on the second of her pair discards? At this point she did not know whether to give up or cry.

After 5 consecutive victories they stopped, and Mako came over to their table. "This is Fujita-pro, she's a Mahjong professional."

Maho let out a sigh of relief, "Ah okay, no wonder we couldn't win. We are just high school students after all. There's no way high schoolers can beat a pro."

Nodoka couldn't take this anymore. "That's not true at all!" she said, too loudly.

Fujita-pro nodded. "That's right; you know it as well as I do, don't you? I looked at that game's play record. The inter-middle individual's final. Miyanaga Saki, who can and does compete with professionals, is not even the best of them. Take her sister for example who I don't think has even lost a single match yet, and I have seen a number of others as well. Just recently I was at a tournament where, after 18 hanchan, I was in 2nd place. That day the trophy was presented to a 15 year old girl by the name of Amae Koromo."

"… I can't believe this…" Nodoka said, exasperated. _Better than Miyanaga-san? No way…_

"That's the girl from the Ryuumonbuchi high school!" exclaimed Yuuki.

"Oh?" replied Fujita-pro casually, "You girls are entering that tournament too? What a shame. There's no way you will defeat her. Not you girls."

The training camp was going quite well. Fujita-pro had done a good job of riling them up and Hisa was pleased her suggestions that Nodoka play whilst holding Etopen and that she should practise drawing tiles did not meet much resistance. She also had Maho practise the tile drawing, and the two girls had taken to doing it together as a kind of ritual for an hour after they got up. They certainly could not afford any of those mistakes Maho seemed prone to. Chombo was too expensive. There were other obvious problems with Yuuki and Maho that needed to be addressed as well.

Nodoka had been riding them about defense for a while now, and Hisa agreed; she had already decided to have them work on defense during the day. She emphasised suji and other basics, but mostly she focused on recognising when other players were in tenpai. To Yuuki she suggested simply abandoning the south round and bailing and the smallest signs of Tenpai.

Nodoka disapproved, but accepted her advice as sound enough based on Yuuki's point spread. You can't argue with statistics and Yuuki's east round was undeniably great, whilst her south round would never be quite as good. Hisa hoped they could make sure she didn't leak so many points whilst out of her comfort zone. Kyoutarou also took part in the defense training though he really was useless and didn't seem to be making any real progress. Fortunately he seemed willing to be the club's errand boy, making him extremely useful to the team for tournaments.

As far as team positions went Hisa was not yet sure what she wanted to do. Yuuki would probably end up being their vanguard due to how intimidating her East round could be, and Mako would always be solid. She was usually a pretty good judge of character and hoped that she would not need to focus too much on her. Putting her in the second or fourth position seemed like an easy pick. For herself she was not sure how to objectively analyse her own strengths and weaknesses, and the only person who would offer her such an analysis would harp on about her bad waits pretty much exclusively.

It was nearing the end of the third day of the training camp, and Hisa could almost not believe she was thinking it, but she was considering putting Maho in the captain position. The choice was Maho, herself, or Nodoka. Nodoka would be the best choice the majority of the time, but Hisa was worried about teams with monsters and other players with abilities in the captain position.

Hisa was not arrogant enough to think that she herself could do much better against such players, but at least she would recognise their abilities and could try to counter them appropriately. Maho was an amusing choice, theoretically at least. There would be at least one round a game where Maho would be able to compete and the rest of the time she would get slaughtered. In reality she needed to be better when she wasn't relying on that weird mimicking ability to be a viable choice as captain.

One of her big problems at this training camp was how to get Nodoka to improve. Whilst holding Etopen, her defense was better than her own against normal players, maybe even the best of any high school player. It was the monsters who scared her. Hisa had watched the final of the inter-middle school individuals where Nodoka had been up against Miyanaga Saki. She noticed that Nodoka did not hesitate to discard kan-able and pon-able tiles against that monster at any point.

It was not punished until the very end in that game, but that monster had improved a lot since then as far as Hisa could tell. In fact even the media seemed surprised at how much better Miyanaga Saki's performances were and had even referred to her near-loss in a middle-school tournament as a 'wake-up call', and Nodoka immediately clammed up if you brought it up with her. Hisa made a mental note to ask her more formally about that. _No time like the present, I guess._ She smiled mischievously.

She snuck up behind the poor girl to whisper in her ear. "Nodoka, I'd like to talk to you about something. Come find me outside once you are finished with your game."

It was getting chilly when Nodoka showed up about 15 minutes later. "Did you win?" she inquired.

"Um, yes - Yuuki really does drop off in the south round." Nodoka replied somewhat cautiously. Hisa found that amusing. _I guess it is pretty weird for me to ask her out here._

"You came second in the final of the middle school championship last year." It wasn't a question. Nodoka replied with a simple yes. _We are off to a great start at least._

"Did something happen between you and Miyanaga Saki?" Hisa asked, and she noticed an immediate effect. Nodoka let out a startled "eh?!" and then she went just about as red as a tomato. Hisa smiled crookedly "Nodoka?"

"Erm, I don't know what you mean..." Nodoka stuttered, looking away. She was as flustered as Hisa had ever seen her, even more so than when Yuuki teased her. _Oh wow, was it that bad?_

"Oh? Was I mistaken then?" she asked with a grin, knowing full well that she was not mistaken in the slightest.

Nodoka continued looking away when she responded. "No… I guess we became friends… When I was getting ready to go home after the loss, she asked me to stay behind to play with Shiraitodai…"

"What? You played with the Miyanaga sisters? And all the rest of them?"

"Not exactly…" Nodoka hesitated, "We didn't end up playing really, and I just talked with and walked around Tokyo with Miyanaga-san."

"Miyanaga-san?" Hearing the formidable Miyanaga Saki of Shiraitodai referred to as such by Nodoka was so strange it was almost eerie. Hisa could have almost laughed, and she was starting to understand the motivation behind Nodoka's determination to go to the nationals. "Is that why you want to get to the nationals so badly?" she asked. Hisa didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Nodoka had been on Yuuki and Maho's case about defense even before the training camp, and she aggressively argued against her own bad waits whenever she had the opportunity. Nodoka did not respond to her last question, and was plainly uncomfortable. Hisa continued on; "I'm thinking about putting you in the captain position."

"If that's what you think is best, I will accept." _Hmm. I am not going to be able to get through to her at this rate._

"Miyanaga Saki plays quite often at tournaments that aren't affiliated with any kind of school, doesn't she, Nodoka?"When the girl nodded Hisa charged quickly onwards,_ "_Tell me, have you been following her progress lately?" Nodoka simply nodded shyly again, whilst maintaining a significant blush.

"Did you notice anything strange about it?" Hisa was aware that it was a loaded question, but she felt like she needed to make this clear to Nodoka. "Her rinshan kaihou rate, for example?"

Nodoka didn't take long to snap out of her embarrassment, "Such ridiculous luck won't hold out forever president." _Oh wow…_

"Nodoka… I understand how you feel about this, but statistically speaking it's nearly impossible to have that many successful Rinshan Kaihous, isn't it? I think I've had two in my entire life, and I play a lot of mahjong. Or do you think she is rigging it?"

"Miyanaga-san would never cheat, president." She said, surprisingly sternly. _I don't think I've ever seen her so eager to rush to someone's defense. _

"I figured that, that was not my point." _How do I get through to her?_ Hisa let out a sigh. "My point was how can you deny occult matters and superstitions when you know Miyanaga Saki's play style so intimately?" _I ought to back down here or there will be unneeded tension._ Not letting Nodoka get a word in, she continued, "Nodoka, there's no harm in merely keeping it in mind, is there? You know better than I do how statistically improbable it is for players like Miyanaga Saki to score points the way they do. It can't hurt to watch out for it, right?"

"Okay… I guess so" Nodoka turned and quickly made her way back inside. _That could have gone better._

It was the final night of the training camp, and the entire Kiyosumi team were in bed. Nodoka was the last awake, and was deep in thought. She had a habit of spending far too long in bed, simply thinking about things sometimes for hours at a time. The habit was a part of her, ever since she was small, and she was unmotivated to stop doing it. She usually enjoyed thinking, especially when she was comfy in bed and holding Etopen, and Nodoka believed it gave her confidence during the day.

_Will we be able to make it?_ _We have made so much progress as a team, and I feel like I can now play my best mahjong in real life._ It had taken holding Etopen to do it, but Nodoka finally felt like she would be capable of being the captain for Kiyosumi. She didn't know whether the president would make her it or not, but she was determined to do her best regardless of which position she was entrusted with.

Nodoka couldn't help but critique her teammates inside her own head. Yuuki and Maho had both made giant strides in their ability to defend, although they were still not perfect by a long shot. Nodoka took personal pride in their improvements; she was certain she had advised them to the best of her ability. When the time came she was confident they wouldn't do too badly on the rounds where they lacked the confidence to attack.

Maho in particular had shown a great deal of improvement. She had not committed any real beginner mistakes on the final day which was extremely encouraging. It seemed like she would always make at least one a day previously, to the point where Yuuki almost seemed to consider this an unwritten rule. Nodoka was glad that, if nothing else, that superstitious nonsense had been contradicted. The president seemed to be trying to imply something of the sort on that evening when she asked about Miyanaga Saki, as well. _What on earth was she trying to say? _

Nodoka's mind slowly turned back to the prefectural qualifiers. _Amae Koromo. Fujita pro thinks she's even stronger than Miyanaga-san. Will I be able to beat her?_ Nodoka slowly drifted away, dreaming of victory.


	4. Chapter 4 - Monsters and Memories

**Chapter 4- Monsters and Memories.**

* * *

The day of the tournament was here at last and Nodoka had woken up with butterflies in her stomach and they didn't seem like they would be leaving any time soon. She could not get the face of a certain girl out of her head, and she spent a good part of her time thinking about their promise that morning as she was getting changed._ I wonder how she's doing… I wonder if she still remembers…_ It had been almost a year since she had seen the brown haired mahjong star.

She knew, with Shiraitodai's line up, it was close to a given as you can get in mahjong that they would make it through the team qualifiers. It wasn't even a stretch to say they were comfortable favourites to win the whole thing; they were widely praised as one of the best inter-high teams of all time. It was easy to see why, too. The older Miyanaga enjoyed an incredible record to say the least, and the younger Miyanaga was tipped as the only player who could take games off her at inter-high level.

Oohoshi Awai was another player who was considered a national class monster that Shiraitodai had on their roster. That phrase still rubbed Nodoka the wrong way, but she found she only truly hated it when it was used to describe the younger of the Miyanaga sisters, otherwise it was simply irritating. Their two remaining players, Takami Shibuya and Hirose Sumire, were no slouches themselves either.

Nodoka reckoned that they would be the players that would be targeted by their opponents regardless. Kiyosumi would have to target them as well, should they draw Shiraitodai at some point. That way of thinking was almost bordering on the absurd, however. Those two players were actually really strong; they just weren't at the same level as the other 3 players in their line-up. Hirose Sumire was a proven player in mahjong, in particular.

For the prefectural qualifiers, Nodoka's own team had drawn well. They wouldn't meet the two powerhouse schools, Ryuumonbuchi or Kazekoshi, until the final, which would give them the chance to get some matches under their belt before they played against anyone particularly accomplished. By no means did Nodoka think it would be easy in the first rounds, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling relieved.

Shiraitodai on the other hand did not play until hours after Nodoka's first game because they were seeded and skipped the first round, much the same as Kazekoshi and Ryuumonbuchi were at her own tournament. She wondered if the girl she had grown so close to so quickly in Tokyo would be watching her game. _I really wish there was some way to contact her._ It was not the first time she wished it, and it would not be the last.

Takei Hisa was worried. She hadn't been able to convince Nodoka that some players just defied logic, and there was no time left. She hadn't even announced the line-up to the team yet, and she couldn't change it now; she already handed in the team order via the official tournament channels days ago. She considered whether or not she had made a mistake. Nodoka's match record was impressive against the monster player Miyanaga Saki, but Hisa suspected that was because that girl might have actually just let her compete.

She had watched that match several times with interest since the camp, uncertain about who to play in the captain position and Miyanaga Saki appeared to blush and look away several times during the match when Nodoka looked directly at her. The princess was oblivious of course, and at one point even appeared to be angry when she finally noticed the girl looking away deliberately, obviously misconstruing the girl's motivation for doing so as boredom. Nodoka definitely played well in that match, but Hisa was suspected that Miyanaga Saki was not quite at full power.

If Hisa's suspicion did turn out to be true then Nodoka would probably have a rough time against Amae Koromo, who commanded a far more ruthless reputation than Miyanaga Saki. Miyanaga Saki was actually developing quite a reputation for deliberately playing into other girl's hands, among other things. The match was literally 15 minutes away however, and so she called everyone to her.

"I have decided on the team line-up for this tournament, Yuuki, you will be our vanguard, Mako will go second, I will play third, Maho you will be our vice-captain and Nodoka you will be our captain. I think, taking the improvements from the training camp into account, this would be the best line-up." Hisa breathed out heavily. _I should probably remember to breathe more whilst speaking in future._

"Aha! The normal theory is to put your strongest players first, which means I am the strongest!" Yuuki said loudly, and perhaps slightly too sincerely. "Doggy, make sure the star is fully supplied with tacos!"

"Yes yes…" said a resigned Kyoutarou, hanging his head.

"Please take this seriously!" Nodoka told her, typically chiding._ At least they don't seem nervous. _Hisa wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

Hisa at Yuuki, "Anyway, please get ready to go, Yuuki. It starts soon."

"Please do your best!" Nodoka chorused with Maho.

"Go get 'em!" Mako added with a wave.

Yuuki turned and broke into a run towards the game area. _The childish demeanour Yuuki seems to embody could easily cause her opponents to underestimate her. Hisa smiled. Their dreams were just starting to unfold._

The Kiyosumi vanguard match was under way, the first East round was just ending and Teru was watching as Yuuki closed out her favoured east round with a victory. _It's more interesting than I thought it would be, at least._

"Wow! Kiyosumi's vanguard is really good!" Saki pointed out happily. Teru was only here because she promised to watch Kiyosumi's match with her, and Awai was with them at Teru's own behest.

"I'm actually surprised. She could even end it herself with a bit of luck. She's nowhere near Teru though," the blonde girl commented.

"What do you think onee-chan? Saki asked, shamelessly failing at hiding her excitement.

"It seems like Kiyosumi will make it through this round, at least. They are still yet to face any of the powerhouse schools though." Teru said calmly.

"They will make it through. I just know it! Haramura-san promised!" Saki said cheerily. Teru sighed.

"She still has the individuals if she fails, right?" Awai asked, clearly concerned. _Saki must be pretty obviously setting herself up for some disappointment if Awai's worried._

Teru didn't think there was any way for Haramura Nodoka to beat Amae Koromo, and she couldn't think of a way to soften the inevitable blow of the disappointment when she inevitably lost, promise or not. "I think Awai is right. She's probably banking on the individuals, where there will be two spots for players who aren't Amae Koromo" she said quietly.

"Nuh-uh Onee-san. Haramura-san isn't like that. She will give her all in the team tournament as well." Saki explained as-a-matter-of-factly with an unrecognisable confidence. _This is going to be painful._

Yuuki ended the round with nearly 150,000 points. She lost a few points after the East round, but only via tsumos she was more than happy to point out. Her opponents played right into their hands; after the incredible East round they did nothing but go for small fast hands that barely but a damper on Yuuki's score. Mako and Hisa both made it through their rounds with no problems just going for quick pinfu and tanyao hands.

By the time they got to the end of Hisa's own round they were at 170,000 points, with second place trailing with just over 100,000 points. Hisa smiled to herself, _this is going almost too well. _Next up was their problem child however. If there were no ability players at the table with her she was probably going to lose points, possibly a lot of them.

Hopefully she would get through okay, and they had Nodoka to pick up the pieces if it went really badly, but Hisa wanted the girl to gain some self-confidence here. _It might have been a better idea to make myself vice-captain, it would be better logically against normal schools like these._ The reason she had decided upon taking the middle position herself was because some of the bigger schools put their ace in that position. She wasn't exactly relishing playing against such players herself, but she shuddered to think what would happen with Maho against a real ace. Swapping her with Mako was a possibility too; Maho really was a wildcard she did not know how to manage.

_Oh dear. _In the very first hand Maho dealt into a mangan. _After all that effort working on defense as well_. Hisa sighed loudly enough for Mako to take notice.

"Don't worry president, she still makes serious errors sometimes but at least she hasn't committed any chombo level errors lately."

"That's true" Hisa admitted, "She still worries me though."

Fortunately, that mangan was the largest hand she dealt into, and came back with only minus 10100 and even won several hands. "Good work" Hisa said honestly, "I thought you would lose more considering the lack of abilities on show after that start." Maho smiled brightly at that, and gave an exaggerated thumbs-up, she turned to Nodoka "Anyway, it's your turn Nodoka, good luck. I'm sure she's watching." Hisa told her with a grin.

The rest of the club were confused at that. Mako made a drawn out "eh" sound, and Yuuki simply asked what she meant by that, but Nodoka only blushed slightly, picked up her penguin and thanked her. _This should be funny. I wonder how people will react to the penguin. _An idea suddenly popped into her head. She asked Mako to go see if she could look up a certain school's phone number.

Nodoka was on her way to the tournament room. _I wonder if Miyanaga-san really is watching. After a promise like that I would be disappointed if she weren't. Either way I have to do my best here! _She walked straight into the room but had completely forgotten about Etopen under her arm, so she was surprised when the security officer who was in charge of overlooking the game stopped her and asked her to hand it over for inspection. She felt blood rushing to her face as she handed Etopen over for inspection, and could feel the stares of her opponents who were already all seated. _I forgot about Etopen! This is so embarrassing; I wonder what Miyanaga-san would make of me playing whilst holding Etopen like a security blanket._

"Ha-ha, what on earth is that penguin for?" Awai asked when Nodoka appeared, in-between giggles. Saki just shrugged and concentrated on the screen. Teru frowned. She was always confused by her sister's attitude towards the pink haired girl. She would have normally expected her to at least comment on the penguin, or maybe chide Awai for being rude. Anything.

And yet Saki barely made a sound, and did not utter even a single word - she simply focused on the television where Haramura Nodoka soon showed herself to be way above the competition, as the Commentators duly noted. She was too fast for them with this big lead. She was able to go for small, cheap and fast hands whilst the other schools' only chance was getting big hands. Teru was not surprised at how well she was doing; if her speed gave Saki any trouble then these no-names wouldn't be able to cope with it.

Suddenly Saki exhaled and jumped up, "This is great!" _where did that enthusiasm come from?_ "Haramura-san is having so much fun!" she said with the brightest smile Teru had seen on her sisters' face for a long time. Teru noticed that Awai was staring at Saki with a look of wonder on her face. Teru completely understood that; it was so nice when Saki was like this. She found herself wishing despite herself that Haramura Nodoka had accepted her offer and moved to Tokyo to join Shiraitodai.

During the final round, Sumire entered the room and walked over to where Teru was sitting with a phone in her hand. Nodoka had won seven hands and the game was over. No one besides Haramura Nodoka won a hand besides one tsumo from the player from Toufukuji. A dominating display Teru had to admit, but her opposition at that table weren't even close to Amae Koromo.

"Who is it?" Teru asked calmly.

"I don't know," Sumire replied, "but she asked for you by name, and is claiming to be in the middle of a Mahjong match."

Teru had a bad feeling about this. "Yes?" she said into the phone.

"Erm hello!" came an unfamiliar voice that was not Haramura Nodoka "Is this Shiraitodai's Miyanaga Saki?"

Teru didn't bother responding. "It's for you, Saki." she sighed. She knew what this particular call was about.

Nodoka was satisfied with her performance. Her speed had been out of her opponents' league today. She stood, thanked her opponents for a good game and bowed, to which they mumbled agreement that the game had been good. The agreement sounded suspiciously insincere, but that was to be expected. Mahjong could be frustrating even for the best of players, as Nodoka knew all too well. She then made her way out of the tournament room to where the president and the others were waiting for her.

"You were amazing Nodo-chan!" Yuuki exclaimed excitedly, to which Kyoutarou murmured agreement.

"Really good, Nodoka." Mako added.

"Nodo-chan is the best!" Maho exclaimed heartily.

Nodoka noticed that Hisa was looking at her with a crooked smile. She had a phone in her hand. "It's for you." she said with a smirk. _Oh dear, she is always plotting something. _She took the phone as gracefully as she could and placed it carefully to her ear.

"Hello, this is Haramura Nodoka speaking." she said clearly into the voice receptor.

"Haramura-san!" said an excited, unforgettable voice. "You were so so so awesome!"

The startled Nodoka was at a loss for words. _She was watching! She was impressed! She remembers! _A wave of emotion crashed over Nodoka as she realised how badly she had longed to hear that voice these past few months. The worth of the simple words was surprisingly large to her. _She was watching! She really was watching! _She slowly realised tears were falling down her cheeks, and the entire Kiyosumi Mahjong club were staring at her. _Oh my god! _She jolted and forced herself to turn around and face the wall.

"Oh my god, is Nodo-chan crying?" she heard Yuuki gasp, before being hushed by Mako. Kyoutarou was visibly shocked, too. She realised she hadn't said anything for a bit too long, and Miyanaga Saki was getting worried.

"Miyanaga-san!" she managed, "It's been such a long time. I'm so glad you were watching."

"Come on!" Hisa whispered to her goggling team-mates. "Give her some privacy!" Reluctantly they followed her away from the emotional girl. She supposed it could be considered pretty cruel to ambush her like that, but Nodoka was so proper all the time; she thought it would be good for her team-mates to see a different side of her. That had felt like a good idea until the princess began crying, at which even Hisa was surprised. _What exactly does that girl mean to her? They only knew each other for what? A week? If even that._

Fujita-pro had just given an interview to Nishida, the news reporter who was covering the event. She had seemed overly shocked when Fujita told her she was mostly excited about Amae Koromo's performance, rather than Haramura Nodoka. Nishida had gone on to say that Amae Koromo was just lucky the year before, and did not believe in the superstitions in mahjong today.

Fujita-pro was genuinely surprised at that; _how exactly does a reporter who seriously covers Mahjong not believe in superstition in today's mahjong climate? Has she never heard of the Miyanaga sisters, Jindai Komaki, or a multitude of other players who consistently break statistical probability with their play? Hell, anyone who pays attention to the pro leagues at all should recognise how absurd the grandmaster's scores get._

Fujita was also baffled at the way they propped Haramura Nodoka up. _At first at least_. She realised that the girl's figure probably did wonders for sales, but she had faced the girl; she seemed like nothing special to Fujita in their games at the overlook café. Her record against Miyanaga Saki was impressive from the year before, but that seemed to be a case of a player stepping up to the plate on the big occasion, a player that was merely decent the majority of the time. _There is virtue in a player like that, but not for players like her._ _Players who spurn luck and go for win percentages over a long period of time cannot rely on sporadic performances._

That was the impression she had from playing her at least, but she seemed to be a different player when she watched her play at this tournament. She made barely any mistakes, called the right tiles and was one of the few high school students she had seen who truly took note of score and accounted for expected hand values. Her speed at which she discarded tiles and spent thinking seemed vastly improved, too. She actually did speculate to her co-commentator that it was the penguin that was stabilizing her play and that had been taken as a joke, but Fujita was not so sure.

She was on her way to see Kiyosumi now to see if her suspicions were correct. Takei Hisa was probably behind the change, Fujita decided. _That girl is dangerous._ She entered the cafeteria, and immediately attracted a lot of unwanted attention. _Well whatever, I can't really complain when I dress like this._ She approached the table where Kiyosumi were eating. She addressed the pink haired one but took care to make note of Hisa's reactions.

"What kind of magic did you employ this past week? You were hardly recognisable from that girl I played at the overlook café the other week."

Hisa had a ridiculous smirk on her face. _So it was her._ "Don't you think it has something to do with a certain beat-down they received?" Hisa asked her. It was fair to say that Fujita-pro liked this red headed would-be mastermind. Fujita smirked right back at her.

"I will beat you one day." She heard Haramura Nodoka say. _That fighting spirit is a breath of fresh air considering how prim and proper she seems, it's a shame she's the captain really. Amae Koromo will eat her and spit out the bones, and judging by this girl's determination it really could break her._

"You won't be able to do what you did in the first round against the teams in the final." She said solemnly. "Kazekoshi are really good this year, not like those teams you just played. Ryuumonbuchi are even worse, with a solid line-up and last year's Inter-high tournament MVP."

"We can win." Not even a hint of hesitation. _This large chested girl has some ridiculous self-confidence. _The tannoy chose that moment to announce that the start of the next round would be starting soon.

"**The inter-middle championship second matches are about to get under-way. Please would the vanguards of each respective school make their way to the playing area?**"

Kiyosumi quickly excused themselves and headed towards their match. Fujita contemplated Haramura Nodoka's playing style and skill. She would be facing Amae Koromo after all. _They really can't win._

The second game was actually easier than the first. Takei Hisa almost knocked out Tenryuu in the 3rd round, and surprisingly Maho finished the job. Apparently one of the girls at the table had the ability to ron specific players deliberately if she had a wait on a seat wind tile. After using it first round on Maho herself she stole the ability and hit Tenryuu for a dealer Mangan, ending the game. The girl, who was from Yama High School, was visibly shaken at the girl using her own ability like that. Hisa laughed out loud when it happened.

It was a shame she used the ability so pointlessly really though, since it was a fairly obvious ability that would eventually be scouted if their team managed to get anywhere, but Hisa decided it was still worthwhile for the girl's confidence. She knew that Nodoka would be especially pleased that they ended the game early though, as Shiraitodai were not finished playing their first game yet, and thanks to the ridiculous length of the opening round due to Miyanaga Teru's dealer streak Miyanaga Saki's turn would not begin for a while. In fact they were still at the Lieutenant stage of the match when they began watching it. Nodoka, for the first time since Hisa met her, was visibly excited, although she did her best to hide it.

Quite a crowd were gathered to watch Shiraitodai play on the monitor in the waiting area, but Nodoka aggressively forced her way in. Oohoshi Awai held a lead of over 150,000 on second place, and last place had just over 50,000 points left. Luckily it was the last hand, so the chances of anyone going into minus were zero. She was supposed to be a national class monster yet Hisa did not see anything fantastic about the girl's performance. Realization came to Hisa. _They are hiding their hand. She's not using whatever she can use, which is probably why Shiraitodai have not won yet._

Hirose Sumire, Miyanaga Saki and Miyanaga Teru were pretty much figured out ability-wise, and their play styles were well-known. No one had yet devised strategies that really worked against either of the Miyanaga sisters yet however, but the general idea so far was to not discard shonpai against the younger, and to call a lot against the elder.

Takami Shibuya, on the other hand, seemed to be nothing special so far, and Oohoshi Awai was a complete unknown. That didn't stop her from being labelled a national class monster, but that was probably because she had Teru's' backing in a way that Hirose Sumire and Takami Shibuya did not; Teru personally and publicly vouched for her skill. The second place girl actually ended the round with a direct hit on Oohoshi Awai which the crowd murmured at in surprise. _I guess she might have problems with defense?_ Hisa made a mental note to check for hints of a weak defense when she had a chance to look at the girl's play records at some point.

She would get a chance to watch Takami Shibuya now, who was Shiraitodai's vice-captain. Hisa once again could not detect a single ability, and the girl's score was decidedly average, coming in at +2300. _No surprises there._

Now it was Miyanaga Saki's turn. Hisa took a glance at Nodoka, who was concentrating on the game with a neutral expression. _I guess it would be too much to phone them up again, I'm pretty sure it would give our princess a boost but it's best not to over-do these things. _Miyanaga Saki did not waste any time, and the commentator seemed to enjoy getting excited about her rinshan kaihou in the first hand. Hisa focused her attention on Nodoka, who audibly gasped when Miyanaga Saki scored with another rinshan kaihou in the hand directly afterwards as well. Hisa smirked at that.

Miyanaga Saki really was scary though. Unlike her sister, her hand scores were completely unpredictable, and would jump up from small iishanten hands to big tsumos in a single turn. _She is the perfect player to play against other monsters._ She knew that some players could somehow sense a player's hand value and tenpai state. Not just monster players either, but other less abnormal players who specialised in flow. If that was true, then how did those players cope with a player whose hand value and tenpai state didn't actually have that much meaning in how high her hand would score or how soon she won hands?

**Male commentator: "And that's it folks, Miyanaga Saki's dealership was just too much! This hanchan will not reach the south round at all! Miyanaga Saki sank the player from West Tokyo International school, ending the game right there! No one else won at all in this hanchan, this girl truly is a national class monster!"**

_Well, at least Nodoka will be happy. That girl she likes so much just destroyed that team. _Hisa glanced over at Nodoka thinking they should begin thinking about meeting up with the rest of their team. Something in the girl's demeanour stopped her in her tracks. _Wait, what? Why does Nodoka look so angry? _Her right fist was tightly clenched, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. _I don't understand, I thought she would be happy. Does she really hate luck that much? No that's not it. She usually gets uptight about Occult stuff but I've never ever seen her like this._

"What's wrong, Nodoka?" Hisa asked carefully, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are so tense, you are almost shaking."

Nodoka clearly wanted a moment, and Hisa didn't have a problem waiting for her. It didn't take too long before Nodoka returned to her normal self, or close to it at least.

"Sorry president," she said meekly, "I didn't mean to worry you. Please don't, I am fine."

_You don't sound fine, Nodoka-chan._

"Are you sure Nodoka? You might feel better if you talk to me about it." Hisa didn't want to pry, but she was genuinely concerned. This was the second time she had witnessed Haramura Nodoka completely lose her cool, and on both occasions Miyanaga Saki was at the centre of it. It was obvious what was happening the first time, but she was at a loss as to what caused this reaction.

"Please don't worry. It's okay. I am fine."

"Okay then, but please come talk to me or Mako or anyone if you have any problems. Promise me okay?"

"Yes, no problem. Thank you for your concern." The robotic tone she was using as she spoke was slightly worrying and Hisa had no doubt that Nodoka would not be seeking either herself or Mako out for a personal chat any time soon. But in reality that tone was not completely unlike the normal Nodoka she knew, and evidently she was not going to get more from her junior, so she let it pass.

"Let's go find the others then" she said. Hisa was probably trying slightly too hard to sound like her usual self, but she didn't think Nodoka noticed anything amiss.

Teru frowned. Saki was too quiet since coming back from her win. She was a naturally quiet girl but she would normally at least try to be enthusiastic after winning for the team.

"Are you feeling okay, Saki?" she asked. "You are very quiet." Awai got up at that, and deliberately walked over to the sofa Saki was sitting on, jumped on it and knelt in such a position that she could stare directly at Saki, she then gave an exaggerated series of nods indicating she agreed.

"Haramura-san didn't call… I was hoping she was watching. Her team ended their match in the vice-captain's round so I thought she'd be watching." Saki admitted. _Haramura Nodoka again…_

"I'm sure she just didn't want to be rude, calling again so soon." Awai said. "I bet she would call you if you owned your own mobile!" She poked Saki's cheek playfully.

Saki smiled, "I hope so… I'm just worried. Maybe she did watch me play. You know how people get when they see us play sometimes; it's the same for all of us. They call us monsters."

"Saki…." Teru didn't know what to say. She herself couldn't care less about people calling her a monster, but Saki was a different sort of girl. Teru once made a massive mistake in the past where she had tried to convince Saki to treat the word in the same way that she did. She doubted that was the reason Haramura Nodoka didn't call however, but she could hardly dissuade her sisters' insecurities by simply voicing her opinion on the subject when she didn't know the girl at all.

"Don't worry Saki, we may be monsters but she's the titty monster herself, so she will have no problem watching her fellow creatures devour their enemies!" Awai said with a roar, her arms up in the air with her hands shaped into claws. Saki laughed at that, and began mock-scolding Awai for being rude. Teru was reminded just how valuable their supernova was. She could always turn things playful when Teru herself didn't have a clue what to say.

Hisa and Mako engaged in a long discussion that night whilst they walked home. Part way through their conversation Hisa told her friend about what she had seen in the lobby. Mako responded as she herself had; with incredulity. "Nodoka? She was shaking with rage? I find that hard to believe. Not our princess and why would she? That girl she likes won and everyone sang her praises. Why would she be anything but happy? You must have seen it wrong."

Hisa sighed. She knew what she had seen, but she was as clueless as Mako about what caused it. She even went as far as to think that maybe someone near her had done something to her, maybe molested her or something of that nature. _Nah that's impossible. The room was 90% female and there was not anyone close enough to her for that kind of thing._ Hisa thought Nodoka would tell her about something like that anyway. She gave up, and pushed it out of her mind. She turned to Mako.

"Nervous about tomorrow?" She asked.

"Not really. Our players were all far less nervous than we thought they would be- they all performed great. Even Maho! That ron was priceless! Did you see the look on that girl's face?" Mako asked with a grin.

"Yeah it was great, and I am truly proud of our accomplishments, even if we don't make it tomorrow."

"What's this president? If I didn't know better I'd say you sounded nervous."

Hisa laughed at that. "That's right; I'll be curled up in a ball in the corner of my room tonight."

"I can never tell when you are joking." Mako replied simply.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Battle begins

**Chapter 5- The battle begins.**

**Note: Maho and Amae Koromo's abilities are both slightly different to the anime. I won't say any more than that at risk of spoilers, but they are still recognisable from the anime, and remain extremely similiar.**

* * *

"I'm so happy that their game doesn't coincide with ours!" exclaimed Saki happily. She seemed to be in a good mood right now and Teru was all too aware that it was because Kiyosumi were about to play. Teru, in stark contrast to her sister, was extremely worried. She was pretty sure Kiyosumi were headed out of the tournament soon, and she had no idea how well or rather how badly her sister would take it.

Awai was with them and they had the TV set on the Mahjong channel that was covering Kiyosumi's tournament, and the first round was about to get under way. That girl who suddenly turned useless in the South round the other day was up against the lead offs of Kazekoshi, Ryuumonbuchi and some no-name school that Teru did not recognise. Awai earlier audibly echoed her own thoughts when she said that she hoped that the Yuuki girl would win big again. They would need a big lead to have any chance against Amae Koromo.

The vanguard match did not go according to plan. It actually turned out to be quite the disaster_. Their highest scoring player from their first two matches is getting destroyed._ Kiyosumi were 40,000 points down by the interim and Saki was visibly distressed. _I knew this was going to happen._ Nothing could ever go wrong in her sister's eyes when she was passionate about something and even though Awai was doing her best to cuddle with and sooth the upset Saki, her efforts were proving futile.

_That idiot better turn things around soon._ The idiot, whose name was apparently Kataoka Yuuki, was visibly upset during the first hanchan which usually spelled disaster for a players' motivation. Once or twice in her mahjong career players had defied her Shoumakyou simply because they were so upset that they abandoned reason so totally and absolutely that they became impossible to predict. In the current match, there was only one east round left, and that was only a good thing assuming her ability was powered up by the East round. If it was the first round of the match that powered her up… she had no hope.

Just when Teru thought Kiyosumi might drop out of the running even earlier than she expected, the vanguard and ace of Kazekoshi surprisingly started to help the tiny girl who represented Kiyosumi. It was the second hanchan and the girl helped set up Ryuumonbuchi for not only a direct hit dealer baiman on Kiyosumi's behalf but also a smaller direct hit afterwards, and went on to directly hit the school herself. Teru made a mental note to send thanks to the blonde girl who seemed to have a vendetta against Ryuumonbuchi. Kiyosumi were back up to about 90,000 points when that same girl with the weird eyes started winning every hand.

Teru looked at the scoreboard that was held at the right of the screen. _Well at least Kiyosumi are ahead of Ryuumonbuchi._ Teru wasn't too concerned about Kazekoshi. They were strong but it was the type of strong Haramura Nodoka could beat. _The Kazekoshi vanguard is actually genuinely good though._ Teru suspected that Kazekoshi might have made a mistake when they decided to make the girl with the weird eyes their vanguard. There was always the chance that Kazekoshi had someone even stronger, but it seemed a pretty clear case of picking the strongest player as vanguard; it was a very reliable strategy normally, and Shiraitodai themselves employed it.

The problem was Amae Koromo, and Teru thought the girl with the weird eyes might have had a chance at preventing her from winning too badly. Teru wasn't completely sure that even she or her sister would beat that girl with the bunny ears when she watched her at the nationals last year. She decided at the time that they probably would but that didn't change the fact that Amae Koromo was on a different level to Haramura Nodoka and anyone else Kiyosumi or Kazekoshi were likely to have. Saki, utterly oblivious to the fact that the second hanchan went surprisingly well compared to how the first had, was extremely upset about how far ahead Kazekoshi were, even though they weren't dead last anymore and had in fact overtaken the most dangerous school.

Things went further downhill from there unfortunately. Teru sat quietly as some beginner player tsumo'd a yakuman whilst a Kiyosumi player with glasses was the dealer, and the girl never recovered. Saki whelped when that girl, who also wore glasses, revealed the suuankou even as she called it a mere toitoi sanankou. _This is not going to end well._ The Kiyosumi player stayed extremely quiet after the Yakuman, barely increasing her score at all. Teru suspected she was too scared after being hit by that hand to really do anything, and she did not exactly score well in the first match either.

Teru was pleasantly surprised by Kiyosumi's president on the other hand, who seemed to have some real potential for scoring points. The girl was lucky there was someone useless constantly playing into her hand, but Teru was still impressed by how well she used her apparent bad wait gimmick. It really was obvious, though, so much so that even the commentators were talking about it. She had clearly and quite smartly hidden the ability in the previous two matches but was exploiting it fully here. The girl was called Takei Hisa and she ended up with a huge point gain by the end of the round. Saki was ecstatic, doing some kind of funny dance with Awai, but Teru was not nearly so encouraged. There was one other major point gainer in that round…. _Ryuumonbuchi._

The scores were as follows;

Kiyosumi High School… 108,500… Takei Hisa… +39,100

Ryuumonbuchi High School… 106,300… Hajime Kunihiro… +28,500

Tsuruga High School… 93,400… Satomi Kanbara… -18,600

Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 91,800… Seika Bundou… -49,000

"Alright, good job president!" Yuuki was already munching on a taco, but that didn't stop her from singing the President's praises.

"Thank you for the good work, president." Nodoka had been worried, but the ever reliable president as per usual put things straight for her. _We are now in first place!_ Now it was just up to her and her old teammate from the middle-school team that crashed and burned so badly to finish the job. _We have the chance to make up for that day today._ Maho had improved so much since then, and Nodoka fully believed that she had improved a lot as well. With a little luck, Maho would pass the baton on to Nodoka whilst they still held the lead and then Nodoka would utilize her speed to run away with it and give the team victory.

Hisa was happy with her performance, but she knew her role was far from over. She looked over at Maho, who had been quiet since Hisa returned and quickly excused herself from her congratulating teammates. She took Maho over to a quiet corner of the room, and spoke in a quiet manner, "Remember, this is the first game where you have a real chance of being able to use an opponent's ability. If you sense an offensive ability, try to save it for when you are dealer again, okay? Stay calm and remember what Nodoka has taught you about defense and you should be fine."

"No problem, president. I will do my best!" Off she went. Hisa sighed and made her way back to the Kiyosumi viewing room.

Maho trotted along into the play area. Her opponents were a tall, blonde, posh looking girl in an expensive looking uniform, a big round girl and a girl she barely even noticed at first who had black hair with long bangs that covered part of her face. She instantly realised that one of these girls had an incredible power locked away. _Excellent_, _president_ _will be pleased. It's time for Maho to be the hero!_ The temptation to use it was strong, but she promised the president she would wait until her dealership, so save it she would. She sat there playing as defensively as she could, _just like Nodoka taught me!_ Unbeknownst to her the commentators were having a field day.

**Male commentator:** **"What is this girl doing?! She isn't even trying to build a yaku at all! In the first 3 hands she seemed to fold within the first 6 or 7 turns! And she has done it again! Just what can this girl from Kiyosumi be thinking?"**

Hisa couldn't help but see the funny side. "Maybe she took your lessons on defense a little too much to heart, Nodoka?" she asked with a grin.

"I really don't think it is funny president, how does she expect to gain any points playing like this?"

"She might surprise you!" Hisa winked at her.

"It's not even a great way to defend though... She won't have any tiles that are actually safe when she needs them if she starts defending so early every game."

"You're right, you're right. Don't worry, I'll tell her during the interim."

Maho grinned. _Finally, it's my dealership._ The blonde haired girl by the name of Ryuumonbuchi Touka was dominating so far, winning small quick hands whilst the last hand ended in a draw, ending Touka's dealership, and Maho wondered whether it was her power she was about to unleash. _Nah probably not, Ryuumonbuchi Touka seems good but it's nothing compared to this... _

Hisa saw the expression of the blonde girl upon the start of Maho's Dealership, but she doubted anyone else did. She hadn't noticed anyone playing especially scarily so far, but she had never seen Maho so shamelessly defend either. Hisa hoped that meant it was something worthwhile._ Let's see what Maho has dug up for us here._

_Wow this ability is… I can barely think straight…_ Maho fell in and out of consciousness and the tiles became a blur. She was not sure she would remember any of this when she felt herself drifting off into space.

When Maho came to the hand was over, and the other 3 players were staring at her with a strange kind of fear in their eyes. Maho blinked stupidly at them and looked around, wondering why she had woken up in such a strange place. Her opponents breathed a near-simultaneous sigh of relief.

**Ryuumonbuchi Viewing room**

Jun was staring at the screen incredulously. Hajime was not sure what had just happened.

"Was that…." she started.

"Touka's cold mode." Jun finished for her.

"I thought so. So that girl steals powers then? And she didn't even need to see it to do it? Scary."

"Yeah and now Kiyosumi have a commanding lead, but it doesn't look she can keep it up luckily. I don't think that girl's normal play or any of the other girls at that table have what it takes to activate Touka's own cold form though."

"Seems a bit unfair, but I am glad. I hate it when she rides the flow like that." Hajime commented. "Do you think that girl will pass out, as well?"

Jun shrugged. "I'm not sure about that, but I also prefer Touka's normal style of play to her cold mode." Jun agreed, "It's more herself."

**Shiraitodai dorm**

"What on earth was that?" asked Saki, who once again seemed oblivious that what just happened was really good for Kiyosumi, but Teru did not know what it was either. The person who seemed like the worst player they had seen so far from any of the four teams apart from perhaps Kazekoshi's lieutenant suddenly pulled an incredible hand out of thin air. She had won with it on the 5th turn, too. She wasn't sure even she or Saki could have done that, and her opponents looked terrified even before she revealed the hand.

"Maybe that girl is really scary?" Awai asked. "She was stupidly defending before and then suddenly BOOM she blew up." She emphasized the 'BOOM' by throwing her hands up in the air as she said it.

Saki laughed at that. "They are in control now, right onee-chan?" She smiled and did a fist pump when Teru looked over at her. Teru felt a bit better about Kiyosumi's chances after the hand. She had been sure the girl named Yumeno Maho would lose a lot of points up to that point in the match after watching her previous play. If that girl could just do that once or twice more Teru might start to feel her sister's confidence as well.

**Kiyosumi Viewing room**

This was just too much for Hisa. She knew that her plan was sound, but to result in this? She never thought it would be so effective. _Riichi ippatsu tsumo chinitsu ittsu dora… Dealer Sanbaiman?_ _1 han away from a yakuman… And she completed it so fast! _ Hisa wasn't sure she'd seen such raw power even in the Miyanaga sisters. _Who on earth's power was that?_ _We are firmly in the driving seat now._

Winning hand- 1W 2W 2W 3W 3W 4W 4W 5W 5W 6W 7W 8W 9W (5W)

Dora indicator(s): 5S-3P

Yaku: Riichi Ippatsu tsumo Chinitsu ittsu dora.

Ryuumonbuchi Touka was not pleased. _How dare this peasant try and stand out more than me?_ She would snipe her now if she could help it. Touka made it to tenpai pretty quickly, but quickly realised that the girl was already defending like an idiot. _This is unacceptable._

With that Touka declared riichi on a 2 sided wait on a pinfu tanyao hand with a dora. That cheeky girl that was apparently named Maho would not deal in with her idiotic style of defending, but on the 13th turn she drew a tile and got a mangan tsumo thanks to some ura dora. "Tsumo, 2000/4000. Plus the win bonus, please." She glared at the Kiyosumi player as she meekly handed over her 4100. Touka snatched them out of her hand and was ready to go again.

Kazekoshi won the next hand with a gomi hand, and then soon enough it was Touka's dealership again. Her hand was progressing nicely. She was in iishanten for another pinfu hand and had no reason to believe anyone was in tenpai. She discarded the tile she just drew, a useless 3-pin only to be astounded when Tsuruga's Momoko declared ron. Touka looked down at her discards… It couldn't be… riichi ippatsu? _When did anyone declare riichi? There's absolutely no way Touka wouldn't notice a riichi!_

"Are you sure you declared Riichi out loud and clearly?" She demanded.

"Yes, you can check the replay later if you like." She responded cheekily, arrogantly.

_I cannot believe this. There's no way she declared riichi! _She begrudgingly handed over the 5800 points. _You will pay for this!_

**Male commentator:** **"Kiyosumi have taken first place with 135,300! What an incredible hand that was, and it was her only win of the round, too! Ryuumonbuchi are in second place with 110,100 with some overall solid play from Ryuumonbuchi Touka! Struggling in 3****rd**** place, we have Momo of Tsuruga with 84500 points, and in last place we have Kazekoshi with 70,100 points!"**

Hisa went to meet Maho during the interim after the first hanchan. "Really really good work!" Hisa gave her a genuine thumbs-up, "That hand was amazing!"

"Really? How much did it score? I'm not even sure who the ability belongs to…" Maho stared at her blankly.

"Wait, you don't even know how much you scored, or who it belonged to?" Hisa wasn't sure she believed that.

"Nope, I blacked out for that hand. It kind of feels like a dream but I don't remember any of it."

"It was a Sanbaiman, and because it was on your dealership it was worth 12000 from everyone. More than a normal yakuman win."

"Oh wow! No wonder I had so many points at the end of that round!" Hisa was taken aback, but Maho's surprise seemed genuine, and she certainly sounded weird when she declared her win. Hisa decided that it was worth finding out whose power it was and she speculated that it might be Kazekoshi's large girl. _She didn't seem to have done anything so far;_ _maybe she needs to "awaken" before she is dangerous?_ _Kazekoshi is supposed to have an all-star line-up after all, right_? Hisa didn't know, and time was running out.

"The reason I came to see you is because I have some advice. You can still use whatever Tsuruga's Momo used to trick Touka into playing into her hand right?"  
"Yes, I was saving it for the next hanchan because I didn't want to have a game where I didn't win a hand."

"Hmm, didn't you read the rules? There is no penalty for that in this tournament. But anyway I am glad that you did. Do you think you could choose who to directly hit with it?"

"Erm, I don't know, but I can try to directly hit someone in particular if that's what president wants."

"Yes please, Ryuumonbuchi if you could. They are in second place and her school has Amae Koromo. Also we don't want to awaken anyone accidentally now do we?" She winked at the first year.

"Okay I'll do my best!" She smiled happily

"Okay thank you for your hard work. Better get back, it's going to start soon."

"Okay, off I go!"

"Have fun!" Hisa called. _We are all set for the final round now. It will all be down to Nodoka after this._ Hisa didn't know if Miyanaga Saki was watching but she would do her best to make sure Nodoka would think she was. It was Hisa's last and only chance at winning the nationals, after all.

Touka did not understand what was happening. She had been scored directly off again and again in the second hanchan, and it really made no sense at all. They were all riichi too, one of which was apparently an ippatsu even; riichi she was apparently failing to even notice. She was getting a headache. It was that Momo girl who was doing it, but even that insolent twerp who scored the massive hand in the first round landed one on her as well. It was really quite unbelievable. There was _NO_ way she could let it end like this.

**Ryuumonbuchi Viewing room**

Hajime noticed the change instantly. "Oh dear, it has started…" Hajime noted with concern, "Touka…. Why?"

Tomoki spoke up "This is what really makes Touka scary though. We should be thankful that her competition was strong enough today to activate it."

**Kiyosumi Viewing room**

_At least it didn't happen until the last turn_. Hisa figured this one was over. It was a shame really, with the scores as they were now she genuinely believed Nodoka might have been able to hold on against Amae Koromo. She spent part of the current hanchan trying to convince her she needed to be worried, in particular about Haitei Raoyue and her big and speedy hands.

Nodoka had of course blown her off. She thought that it was absurd to be worried about stuff like that, Haitei Raoyue in particular. "If people just calmed down a bit they would realise they didn't need to be worried about such things" were even her exact words. _This might be hopeless._ She had one last trick up her sleeve that she thought might do something, but other than for that one idea this night might be a long one.

Maho noticed the change immediately. Tsuruga looked terrified and Kazekoshi looked confused. _I won't play into her hand, at least!_ Maho was thankful that the scary woman was not the dealer and that it was the last turn. Unlike her own self this girl may not lose her abilities after a single turn meaning she might have been able to go on an expensive dealer win streak. It was unfortunate that she herself was last dealer for this round, but it could have been worse.

"Pon" The scary girl called on a Haku discard. Maho glanced worriedly at this girl. She drew a hatsu. There were none in the pond, it was the fifth turn and it would have been her pick for discard usually. Not today though.

**Fujita-pro:** **"Kiyosumi's Maho's tendency to go extreme defense really saved her there."**

**Male commentator: "That's certainly true Fujita-pro, but she could still discard it next turn. You saw it folks, She almost dealt right into Ryuumonbuchi's Daisangen just then. Her hand actually touched the tile before she fortunately decided on a different tile. That would have been a massive 48000 points!"**

On the 8th turn, Maho drew the second Hatsu tile. She glanced over at Ryuumonbuchi Touka. That girl was paying her no mind at all. _Well whatever I will just ride this one out._ She discarded a 1-wan that was already in Ryuumonbuchi's pond. _I hope Nodo-chan is proud of me._

On her next turn, Ryuumonbuchi declared tsumo. "Sousangen, Sanankou, and Toitoi" She recited in a monotonous tone. "4000 8000" Maho gaped at the sousangen with her mouth wide open.

Winning hand- 8S 8S 8S 9P 9P Chun Chun Chun Hatsu Hatsu [Haku Haku Haku] (9P)

Dora indicator(s): 1S

Yaku: Sousangen, Sanankou, Toitoi

_It's almost as if that girl knew all the hatsu were dead._ Hisa was glad she knew who it was at least. Regardless of the last hand, Hisa was extremely pleased with what happened. Whilst Maho obviously had flaws with her gameplay, she had improved enough that she only dealt into two hands over 2 hanchan, and one of those was to that girl who seemed to have some kind of ability that made it easy to deal into her.

This game also shed some light on Maho's ability for Hisa, gifting her with useful information on the specs of the ability, which Maho herself had been utterly useless at providing. It was now clear that she could copy even the most powerful of abilities and didn't even need to know what they were before she used them. Maho had gained points on their scariest rival and had given Nodoka at least a fighting chance against the girl known as Amae Koromo. She looked up at the scoreboard;

Kiyosumi High School… 115500… Maho Yumeno… +7,000

Ryuumonbuchi High School… 106800… Ryuumonbuchi Touka… +500

Tsuruga High School… 100500… Momoko Toukoyo… +7,100

Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 77200… Sumiyo Fukabori… -14,600

**Male commentator: "Wow, what were the odds of this happening? Not only do we have a completely unknown school in first place, but we also have the powerhouse Kazekoshi in dead last! Can Ikeda Kana do anything about her team's predicament now, or will Amae Koromo steal the show yet again? Haramura Nodoka will have a hard time defending this lead, that's for sure!"**

There were still fifteen minutes before Nodoka's match was due to begin and she was trying to concentrate on the game ahead, but a certain young girl wouldn't stay out of her thoughts. She was sure she would be fine if she just played her usual style, but that did not cure her of the butterflies in her stomach._ I don't know what president is thinking, trying to warn me about Haitei Raoyue of all things. _

_Doesn't she realise how improbable that is and how unlikely it is to happen? One girl getting two of them at a tournament one whole year ago does not justify that kind of caution. Maho has given me an impressive lead. With this advantage I can focus on my speed so that no one will be able to keep up with me!_ Nodoka made her way to the playing area.

Amae Koromo spent her time in the parking lot during the majority of the match, including the hanchan that were directly prior to her own. She detested the mass media and crowded areas with a passion. _Dirty parasites with no sense of shame. _That didn't matter right now. She was looking forward to playing against Haramura Nonoka, even though the girl had no chance against her demon eye. Aside from meeting the famous starlet this would be an exercise in tedium, to which not even Hagiyoshi had an answer for. Resigned to her fate, she made her way to the tournament room.

The three competitors looked up when she made her way in. _Kazekoshi are using the same girl that faced me last time?_ _Are they really stupid enough to think determination alone can win against me? I am not of this Earth, I laugh at their delusion._ That girl definitely had no chance, being but a normal player as far as Koromo could tell. She certainly didn't offer much resistance last year, and that was when Koromo could barely use half of her power, but tonight was a full moon. They stood absolutely no chance against her.

The purple haired girl from the school the Koromo had forgotten the name of didn't appear to be any threat at all either. She felt some slight twinges of power, but it was a faint, pathetic thing compared to the Koromo. She could probably feel the flow, or maybe she possessed a small gimmick suitable for perhaps amusing the Koromo for a spell, but petty things like that would not stop her for long. The pink haired one felt the most threatening, but not in the normal sense of the word.

She didn't even feel faint twinges of power like with the purple haired one and she didn't feel like a normal player either, unlike the Kazekoshi girl. Nonoka didn't even feel human, but it wasn't the same as the Koromo. The Koromo well knew that she wasn't human, but her own kind of inhuman was a form full of life. This girl gave off about the same feeling the Koromo imagined a corpse or maybe a machine would. It was almost too much to hope that it would be more fun than she first thought.

**East round 1, Kazekoshi dealership**

The Koromo contemplated not opening the flood gates for a turn or two to see how Nonoka fared. _Yes, that could be fun_. Patiently she discarded a tile like a normal human would. To the Koromo's astonishment on the fifth turn Nonoka declared riichi. _What? I didn't feel a thing. I couldn't tell she was in tenpai or iishanten at all until she told us…_

"Riichi ippatsu tsumo. 1000/2000 please." Nonoka said, expressionlessly.

Winning hand- 2W 2W 2W 5W 6W 7W 1P 2P 3P 4P 7S 7S 7S (1P)

Dora indicator(s): 4S-3W

Yaku: Riichi, Ippatsu, Tsumo

**East round 2, Tsuruga dealership**

_Can she do it again? Let's see! _

_"_Ron," Nonoka said almost emotionlessly. "Hatsu and 2 dora. 7700 points please" _What? Are those wings? This girl might actually be fun to break!_ It was another fast hand. She won on the 11th hand off Kazekoshi this time, ending Tsuruga's dealership.

Winning hand- 2W 3W 3W 3W 2P 3P 4P 5S 6S 7S [Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu] (2W)

Dora indicator(s): 1W

Yaku: Yakuhai

Now it was time for Nonoka's dealership. She wondered how well this girl would fare, and whether or not she would be able to make a dealer streak.

**East round 3, Kiyosumi dealership**

Nodoka looked down at her tiles and sighed. _This hand won't score very highly and won't be particularly fast at all. Tsuruga and Kazekoshi both show signs of Tenpai. Ryuumonbuchi on the other hand seems to be struggling to get anywhere as well._ It was the 14th turn of the 3rd East round when Nodoka decided to bail.

"How tedious!" the cute small girl of Ryuumonbuchi called when Nodoka declared no-ten at the end of the hand. _What? That's so rude._

"Excuse me?" She asked the girl politely. _Perhaps I misheard her._

"I was so excited to play against the famous Haramura Nonoka, but I find you lacking. You are deficient. Perhaps it is time to open the floodgates!"

_What on earth was this girl saying? Open the floodgates? What on earth does that even mean? And she's being so rude! What am I supposed to say to such unwarranted insults?_

Fortunately, the girl from Kazekoshi spoke up. "So, you plan to win again this year?"  
"Oh you are talking about your match with Koromo of last year?" she smiled confidently. "You did not witness my true self last year. Forget about that. Last year I was on the same plane as you mere mortals."

"Erm…" The girl from Kazekoshi reacted to that with a frown. "If you aren't human, what exactly are you?" she asked

"You will find that out soon enough!" she laughed.

_This girl has a flair for the dramatic, I see._

**East round 4, Ryuumonbuchi Dealership**

The hand was already at the 16th turn, and Nodoka was confused. Besides from Ryuumonbuchi, her opponents' discards were nearly all honour and terminal tiles. That didn't make any sense at all. Amae Koromo hadn't changed her hand at all for a few turns, meaning Amae Koromo was probably in tenpai too. _I have to bail._

Nodoka was feeling relieved, Amae Koromo hadn't won and it was almost the last hand. The president warned her about something like Haitei Raoyue before, but that was absurd. The last tile wouldn't even be drawn by her at this rate.

"Chi." Tsuruga called on one of Kazekoshi's discards. Kazekoshi did not look pleased at all at that. _What's wrong with that girl why is she so upset about one of her tiles being called?_ _It happens to us all especially this late in the game where it's a good idea to go for tenpai._

"Riichi!" The girl from Ryuumonbuchi called. _What is that girl doing? Why on earth would she call Riichi now? There's only one turn left! Wait… No way can she be actually planning for a Haitei Raoyue?_

"Tsumo!" the girl of Ryuumonbuchi called with a smile. _No way that's possible!_ "Haitei Raoyue, Riichi Ippatsu tsumo! 4000 all!" _What unbelievable luck!_

Winning hand- 2P 3P 3P 3P 3S 4S 5S 9S 9S 9S Pei Pei Pei (1P)

Dora indicator(s): 9S-Chun

Yaku: Riichi, Ippatsu, Tsumo, Haitei Rouyue

**East round 4, bonus round 1, Ryuumonbuchi Dealership**

Koromo frowned at Nonoka's discards. She hadn't discarded nearly enough Honour tiles. _What on earth is going on here?_ _The Koromo is bursting with power. The Koromo will force another Haitei here and burn these peasants to the ground!_

"Riichi" She called on the second to last turn once more. Nonoka stared at her as though she were insane. _I AM insane!_ "Haitei Raoyue, Riichi Ippatsu tsumo Hatsu and a dora, 6100 all!" she laughed. Those other peasants tried to change the drawing order to deny her the last tile, but that tactic was nothing without all three players working together, and even then the Koromo would be able to prevent it with a full moon behind her. It was actually Nonoka herself who had put her back on course for the Haitei, and she didn't even notice the glares she received from the other 2 players. The Koromo smiled to herself.

Winning hand- 3W 4W 5W 9W 9W 2P 3P 4P 8S 9S Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu (7S)

Dora indicator(s): 1P-Xia

Yaku: Riichi, Ippatsu, Tsumo, Yakuhai, Haitei Raoyue

**East round 4, bonus round 2, Ryuumonbuchi Dealership**

The Koromo was seething by the new round. _These impertinent upstarts colluded to overthrow their better._ The Koromo was not surprised that the purple haired girl could read the flow, but the collusion was unbelievable! The lesser vessel deliberately played into Nonoka's hand for 3800 points, ending Koromo's dealership. That wasn't the thing that really annoyed the Koromo however. What was absolutely disgusting to the Koromo was that Nonoka was in tenpai at all, yet there she was. _Well, whatever the case may be,_ _they will pay for making the Koromo play as a child!_

Winning hand – 1W 1W 1W 9P 9P 9P Xia [1S 2S 3S] [Nan Nan Nan] (Xia)

Dora indicator(s): 9S

Yaku: Chanta

**South round 1, Kazekoshi dealership-**

"Ron" a strong voice called. _That damned girl from Tsuruga again! Who does she think she is? _She managed to evade the Koromo's control by making a dora fuelled chiitoitsu out of nowhere, and landed a mangan direct hit on that peasant from Kazekoshi whilst she was the dealer. _They will pay dearly for this._ _If they think Haitei Raoyue is all the Koromo has got then they are going to be obliterated._

Winning hand- 3W 3W 1P 1P 5P 5P 8S 8S Xia Xia Nan Chun Chun (Nan)

Dora indicator(s): Nan

Yaku: Chitoitsu

**South round 2, Tsuruga dealership-**

Nodoka was contemplating the current score when suddenly the purple haired girl who had just won the hand with a strange chiitoitsu jumped out of her seat._ What is she doing? Doesn't she realise its bad manners to stand up during a game?_ Nodoka looked up at her face. _Why on earth does she look so scared?_ The girl was staring straight at Amae Koromo. _Has she said something? No, that can't be it_. The girl from Ryuumonbuchi said some extremely rude things before and that girl didn't seem to care then, and Nodoka hadn't heard anything from the girl recently either.

"Are you okay?" she asked the girl from Tsuruga.

"Erm. I guess so, sorry. Please excuse that outburst." She bowed slightly and sat back down again. Nodoka was feeling happier at least; _the girl isn't completely tactless after all. _

Nodoka was currently behind. Ryuumonbuchi's Amae Koromo's luck resulted in two big tsumos on her dealership, and it caused Nodoka to fall to second place. _That luck won't last forever._

The next round started typically, but on the 11th turn the Kazekoshi girl discarded a tile that Nodoka judged to be safe as it had been discarded 2 turns ago by Tsuruga, and Amae Koromo's mouth twisted into a vicious smile. "Ron!" She called, "Sanshoku, Chun and 2 dora! 8000 please!" The poor Kazekoshi girl hung her head, tears in her eyes. That could easily have been Nodoka herself who had dealt into that hand; she would have discarded it no problem should she have drawn it. _Amae Koromo did not change her hand since that tile was discarded._ _Who on earth makes a single wait on a wind tile then ignores one of the two remaining winning tiles when it is discarded? This girl spurns logic completely._

Winning hand- 3W 4W 5W 3P 4P 5P 3S 4S 5S Xia Chun Chun Chun (Xia)

Dora Indicator(s): 8P

Yaku: Sanshoku, Yakuhai

**South round 3, Kiyosumi Dealership- **

Nodoka was aware that she was falling behind, but her hand in the current round was coming along nicely. She had a good wait on sou-tiles and promptly declared Riichi on the 8th turn. _I don't need luck. This arrogant girl will be defeated!_

Amae Koromo gasped in surprise_. Riichi? That should be impossible… How is she able to avoid the high tide of the Koromo's incredible power? _The Koromo was angry, but still calm enough given that she still had no chance of being defeated. _Even if this Nonoka person can still reach tenpai, The Koromo will still ensure you never get your winning tile! You will never win against the Koromo!_

Nodoka stared at her tiles, frustrated. _At least I haven't dealt into anyone else's' hand yet and I am in tenpai for the draw. _It was weird, there were plenty of live tiles among her waits still on the board, yet she hadn't seen any of them. Such bad luck was hardly outside the realms of possibility, but Nodoka couldn't help but be disappointed.

A voice startled her. "Tsumo!" it called, loudly. "Haitei Raoyue." _She has no other yaku! She gave up her pinfu when she made those random calls... but with that hand..? Why would she do that? Would she have declared riichi if she hadn't made any of those calls?_ This was getting too much even for chance.

Whilst she was currently second place, she was more than 20,000 points behind first place. She was watching blankly as the automatic table sorted the tiles. _I am still in this!_ _If I can just win a few dealer repeats here I will be in great shape._ Her hand was nothing special, but she drew well and found herself in Tenpai by the 14th turn.

"Riichi!" She declared. It was a small hand, but it had decent waits. Riichi was an obvious decision here. To Nodoka's utter astonishment Amae Koromo did not even move when her turn came up. "How on earth are you tenpai?" she asked brazenly. _Doesn't this girl know that we are in middle of a game?_ _This isn't the time for a stupid question like that, we are being filmed!_

"Why is it so strange that I am tenpai? It's the 14th turn after all." This player was supposedly an amazing Mahjong player, but her play defied logic and she sure seemed keen to spout off superstitious sounding nonsense. It really was unfair that Nodoka would find herself losing to such a player in her own opinion, but she accepted that was how mahjong was sometimes.

She picked up a tile, flipping it over to reveal a 7-wan. Amae Koromo's discards were full of Sou-tiles and pin-tiles but conspicuously absent of wans. _Oh dear, a dangerous, unneeded tile._ Nodoka had no choice but to discard it.

"Ron!" Amae Koromo revealed her damaten Haneman hand, and Nodoka was the dealer which made it very expensive. "18000 please."

"Yes okay." She handed her the points

Winning hand- 1W 1W 2W 2W 3W 3W 8W 9W 9W 9W Chun Chun Chun (7W)

Dora indicator(s): 5S

Yaku: Honitsu, Chun, Iipeikou, Chanta.

**South round 4, Ryuumonbuchi Dealership- **

The Koromo did not understand at all. It had actually just been luck that this girl discarded her winning tile in the end. She was originally planning on hitting the Kazekoshi girl again when Nonoka discarded the tile. _Why didn't Nonoka react to that big loss just now?_ It didn't make any sense. The Koromo was bursting with power, and by now all of their wills should have been broken. Nonoka seemed to be exactly the same as she was at the start of the round, but the other peasants were suitably distraught and could not help but feed the Koromo points. Yet this girl shrugged off her control! Moreover the Koromo couldn't read her hands either. _How dare this girl defy her elder!_

Nodoka was certainly not in the same state of mind that she was at the beginning of the game, she just believed in playing mahjong whilst appearing calm, relaxed and professional. She was now over 60,000 points behind Ryuumonbuchi and had fallen to 3rd place and was feeling the mounting pressure of losing_. How did this happen? In the last 2 hands I was sure I had great odds at winning, and then the very worst thing had happened both times; Ryuumonbuchi won. The first one in particular made absolutely no sense, and the second one was so expensive… How can I face Miyanaga-san after this…? I need to calm down and win! She is watching! Ryuumonbuchi is the final dealer, and I won't let her win!_

Teru actually felt slightly optimistic for Haramura Nodoka's chances at this point. Saki was naturally upset, but the pink haired girl had shown herself to be somehow above Amae Koromo's control and if she could just change her playing style slightly she'd be in with a chance. She voiced this opinion to Saki earlier who nodded eagerly even as she said it and Teru had instantly regretted saying it, especially now after seeing the girl play into that dealer haneman. _I definitely shouldn't have said that. She's almost certainly going to lose._

Teru spoke up_, "_Saki." Her sister looked back at her. "Do you want to call her during the break? I have the Kiyosumi mahjong club president's number on my phone."

"Can I?" Her eyes lit up. "Are you sure?"

Teru handed her the phone and looked over at the television. Haramura Nodoka had another good hand but Teru doubted she would be able to come back with it. The last few hands Nodoka had given up one of her best assets against these opponents when she declared riichi, announcing her Tenpai to the table. Amae Koromo seemed to be able to prevent her from getting her needed tile when she knew for a fact that she was tenpai, but the Kazekoshi player's hand was coming together this time too for once. _Is Amae Koromo concentrating totally on Nodoka?_ Teru was impressed. Haramura had done well to be acknowledged like that by last year's MVP.

Amae Koromo's hand was worrying too however. She was still 2 away from Tenpai but she had 2 completed and hidden melds of dragons. Luckily 3 of the chun were already in the pond, making both daisangen and sousangen impossible. A win would mean a dealer repeat, however, and would likely be expensive. She wasn't sure Nodoka could take a blow like that.

Nodoka was in tenpai. _I have good waits again too; a 2-sided wait and I can only see one of my needed tiles in the discards._ She hesitated. She had declared Riichi twice in a row and had lost the hand both times. Logically it was a good idea though and she needed to increase her hands' value.

"Riichi!" She declared once more. _Did that Ryuumonbuchi girl smirk at me? She did. _Nodoka was not impressed. _Her insane luck will not hold out forever._

This hand belonged to the Koromo. Nonoka ensured that when she declared Riichi. She put down her own tile, sure now.

"Riichi" She said with a fierce smile. _Wait! I am feeling something from that Kazekoshi girl!_ _But she should be done and dusted!_ The girl was looking at her greedily. She put down her drawn tile "Tsumo! Chinitsu and a dora only! 3100 6100 please." The Koromo had neglected her abilities. She handed her the sticks contemptuously. "You will regret that, human trash." she told the girl simply.

Winning hand- 1P 1P 1P 2P 3P 5P 5P [2P 3P 4P] [9P 9P 9P] (5P)

Dora indicator(s): Haku

Yaku: Chinitsu

**Male Commentator: "And that is it for our first hanchan folks, with Kazekoshi's Ikeda Kana ending the round with her first win! Somewhat surprisingly none of our players are Yurukai today, but there has been a supreme winner points-wise. Will any of our players be able to fight back against the incredible Amae Koromo? Here are the scores after the first hanchan of the captains round!"**

Ryuumonbuchi High School… 156,600… Amae Koromo… +49,800

Tsuruga High School… 95,700… Kajiki Yumi… -4,800

Kiyosumi High School… 94,800… Haramura Nodoka… -20,700

Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 52,900…Ikeda Kana… -24,300


	6. Chapter 6 - Fight back

Haramura Nodoka looked up at the scoreboard.

Ryuumonbuchi High School… 156,600… Amae Koromo… +49,800

Tsuruga High School… 95,700… Kajiki Yumi… -4,800

Kiyosumi High School… 94,800… Haramura Nodoka… -20,700

Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 52,900…Ikeda Kana… -24,300

She had been entrusted with a healthy first position at the start of the match, and she had hopelessly lost it. She now trailed first place by more than 60,000 points_. I am such a failure and Miyanaga-san watched it all!_ It was all just too much at that realisation, and she felt the tears starting to come. _No, I refuse to cry. I can still win!_ She stayed seated to take a few seconds to compose herself, and when she thought maybe she wouldn't break down in tears at the sight of someone she knew, Nodoka made her way for the door. Their club president, Takei Hisa, was waiting for her.

Nodoka faced her head on. "I'm so sorry." she said, bowing her head.

"No no don't do that. Look here there's a girl who wants to speak to you." She offered her the phone. Nodoka swallowed. _How can I face her like this?_ _I've lost so many points, and must have worried or upset her._ She hesitated.

"Go on. Take it, she sounds fine."

"Okay, thank you president." She took the phone, still lucid enough to make sure to turn her face away from the president.

"Haramura-san!" the girl did not even wait for Nodoka to speak, and upon the sound of the girl's voice the tears broke their way through the last resistance her body was managing. She simultaneously hated and loved the idea of being weak in front of this girl, but that didn't matter anymore. She could not stop herself now.

"I don't know what to do," she sobbed into the phone. "I… I broke our promise…" That was what hurt the most. She was so sure she would win before the match started, despite the fact that she knew Mahjong was a game of luck and that unwanted results could and would happen from time to time. She knew she was being irrational on that score but that did not stop it from hurting so much. "I'm so sorry. I really am so sorry." She finished feebly.

"Nuh-uh, don't say it like that, Haramura-san." The girl sounded oddly cheerful for some reason. "You can win! Even onee-chan agrees!"

"But I am more than 60,000 points behind and nothing is going right, and somehow that girl keeps ending up on Haitei Raoyue. It's unbelievable!" Nodoka wiped the tears out of her eyes before continuing_._ "I really wanted to make it to the team tournament… My whole team was counting on me and I have let them down… and our promise…" She sobbed, struggling to finish, "our promise…" she repeated, unable to stop herself from sobbing every time she said the painful word.

"Shhh Haramura-san. Don't worry! You can still win! For sure! I talked it over a bit with onee-chan. Amae Koromo can't control you at all, Haramura-san. You are so amazing! She also can't tell when you are in tenpai. She's so surprised when you riichi! Haven't you noticed?" she asked, so happily and so enthusiastically that Nodoka stumbled in her attempt at a response.

She stopped and did her best to think about it. The girl really made no sense at all no matter how Nodoka looked at it. She had to admit Amae Koromo reacted very strangely to her when she declared riichi, but the rest of what Miyanaga Saki was saying didn't make a lick of sense. How could anyone 'control' her in a Mahjong match? Wasn't it common to not know for sure when someone was in tenpai? Nodoka did not understand it at all. It was strange though, just talking to this girl made Nodoka feel a bit better, even if it was all nonsense. She wasn't crying anymore, either.

"Yes," She admitted to the girl, "She reacts strangely when I riichi, but that makes no sense either. Why is she so surprised that I am in tenpai on the 14th turn? That's a perfectly normal situation!"

Miyanaga Saki laughed politely at that, but sounded oddly serious when she responded. "Do you trust me, Haramura-san?" The girl asked. Nodoka was surprised at the new serious tone; it was a tone that she was hearing for the first time from the girl. Nodoka didn't understand what Miyanaga Saki meant, but that seemed to be becoming a pretty common occurrence.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything, Miyanaga-san" she said.

"Do you, though?" she repeated. Nodoka was running out of time before the match was due to restart. She nodded vigorously. She realised what she had done and scolded herself for being so stupid. _She's talking to you on the phone!_

"Of course I trust you, Miyanaga-san." She replied, doing her best to match the serious tone her friend was using.

"That makes me so happy!" _Miyanaga-san… _The girl took a few moments before she resumed speaking. _"_Okay just listen, you need to be damaten every hand. No more using riichi! Is that okay?" Nodoka couldn't fail to notice that it was the serious tone the girl was using again. She did her best to listen to everything she said.

"Oh, and another thing," Miyanaga Saki continued, "I think your defense is amazing most of the time, but you should be more prepared to go head to head with people!" Nodoka did not understand. What good could arbitrarily deciding to never declare riichi do? Wasn't that advice about going head-to-head a bit vague? Nodoka pushed those questions out of her mind. _I told her I trusted her and I meant it._

She was genuinely confused about one thing though, and could not help but ask it. "Miyanaga-san, how am I supposed to get all those points back without riichi?"

"Don't worry about that, I believe in you, Haramura-san!" _She believes in me? I don't even believe in me right now, why does she?_

"Why?" She blurted out in a quiet voice. Nodoka immediately chastised herself for the rude question, but was interested in how the girl would answer regardless.

"Erm…" Judging by the way she hesitated, the question had obviously taken her aback, "Haramura-san, why wouldn't I believe in you? I remember the girl sitting across from me at the inter-middle school tournament! That girl was amazing, and you have improved so much since then! I saw you in your other match. What happened to your self-confidence?" _My self-confidence…?_

Miyanaga Saki only paused for a moment before resuming. "You can beat this girl, Haramura-san. I know it. Even onee-chan thinks so and she never says anything she doesn't believe. You have to be there at nationals!" She was just as brazen as ever, but Nodoka was so thankful for that. The simple act of talking with this girl somehow soothed Nodoka. It was as though just hearing her voice could make her forget her troubles and look at even the worst of situations with optimism and hope.

"Miyanaga-san, I really wish you owned a phone." Nodoka hoped she managed to keep the longing out of her voice enough for the president not to notice, and was glad that neither her nor Miyanaga Saki were able to see her face right now; she could just feel the blush that had settled there.

Miyanaga Saki just laughed slightly nervously at that, "I know, I know. I am planning to get one, I promise!"

"Thank you so much for talking to me, Miyanaga-san. I feel so much better now. I miss you so… much." Nodoka immediately brought her hand up to her mouth when she realised what she was saying. _Oh my god! Why did I say that? Won't that just make things weird between us? Why am I so hopeless?_

"Me too" the girl answered simply after a moment of silence. Nodoka didn't know how to respond to that. She was sure that was Miyanaga Saki speaking as her usual honest and thoughtful self. Nodoka was trying to figure out just how sincere she was when she became aware that she had been silent for a bit too long.

"It's time for me to go, Miyanaga-san." she managed, "goodbye and please keep watching." Despite herself, Nodoka was pleased she had accidentally blurted out the embarrassing line. Nodoka decided somewhat irrationally that the response she received was genuine. It gave her a warm feeling and she couldn't help but smile. _Our friendship is important to her as well!_ She happily and deliberately ignored the logical voice in her mind that was telling her she didn't necessarily mean it and that it could just as easily have been her simply being polite.

"Good luck, Haramura-san! I will definitely be watching!" Miyanaga Saki responded with her usual cheerful tone.

"Go knock 'em dead, Nodoka!" Hisa said as she waived her junior off after taking back her phone. Her plan hadn't required any of her own input at all in the end. She was just considering calling the young starlet again when the starlet had called of her own accord. Hisa did not fail to take note of the way Nodoka spoke to her on the phone either._ She was so much more emotional and open than I have ever seen her. I suppose that it could just be the situation she's in, but something tells me she would never have spoken to me, Mako or even Yuuki or Maho like that._

The deep blush and the elated expression on Nodoka's face after she hung up were pretty hard to miss, too. She hadn't deliberately eavesdropped but there wasn't much space in the hall and she wanted to make sure Nodoka was okay before she left to head back to Kiyosumi's team room. She laughed to herself. She didn't think she could have done anything for Nodoka herself, but Miyanaga Saki had had an amazing effect on their princess.

"What are you giggling about?" Mako asked her as they met in the corridor.

"Oh, nothing much really." Hisa turned to her closest friend, "We haven't lost this one yet, though."

Haramura Nodoka walked back into the room as calmly as she could and turned over a tile. _East._ She was the first dealer of the game. She took the seat to the Amae Koromo's right and felt herself raring to go, excited and determined to earn Miyanaga Saki's trust.

**East round 1, Kiyosumi dealership-**

The first hand she drew was not expensive but it was extremely fast. She had 2 Haku and managed to pon that set on the 1st go around, and had some good sequences already built in her hand. The haku had been taken from Amae Koromo herself. On the 6th turn she drew her needed tile for 1000 points from all. Amae Koromo looked up, surprised. Nodoka met her stare fiercely. She was not about to back down now.

Winning hand- 8W 8W 7P 8P 1S 2S 3S 3S 4S 5S [Haku Haku Haku] (9P)

Dora indicator(s): 4S

Yaku: Yakuhai

"Oh wow look at how fired up the titty monster is now!" Awai exclaimed. "What did you say to her, Saki-chan?"

Teru noticed that Saki was blushing slightly as she told Awai sheepishly that she had only told her not to use riichi. Awai just scoffed at her comment, but remained silent as she watched the match. When she agreed to call the girl, Saki had surprised them both by taking the phone out of the room to call her in private, but Teru was not about to ask her about that.

"Ron, just the double wind, 4200 points please." The television announced in Haramura Nodoka's voice. Saki whelped with excitement as Nodoka won another hand, this time with a direct hit on Amae Koromo herself.

Winning hand- 6W 7W 8W 1P 1P 3S 3S 9S 9S 9S [Ton Ton Ton] (1P)

Dora indicator(s): 1S

Yaku: Double Yakuhai.

"Koromo played into her hand!" Awai pointed out excitedly. The significance of that was not lost on Teru. Amae Koromo playing into someone else's' hand was little more than a pipe-dream for most of the teams at the nationals last year and Haramura Nodoka was extremely fast with her hands now. Teru knew that Haramura Nodoka was fast, but in these past two hands she had been tenpai before the 7th turn and Teru was rather interested in how the girl was avoiding Amae Koromo's control in the first place.

After observing Amae Koromo a little bit at last year's tournament, she estimated that there were maybe between ten and fifteen players who could probably avoid the girl's control enough such that they could consistently win hands, including her and her sister, and even less who had a chance of outright defeating her. But it seemed absolutely effortless the way Haramura Nodoka did it, and Amae Koromo's control seemed vastly improved over what her control at the nationals had been. Teru decided that it was a mistake not to have played the pink haired girl when she had the chance back in the days before the nationals.

It was the second bonus round of the first dealership, and Haramura Nodoka was in tenpai early again, with a really good three-sided wait on a closed Honitsu. It was an easy decision to Riichi here for a normal player, which would turn the mangan hand into at least a Haneman, and Teru wondered whether Saki had gotten through to her or not. Teru was honestly surprised when she discarded a tile without a sound.

"She's doing it! She's really not declaring riichi!" Saki cheered, with an entirely too flushed face. _Saki is way too happy. Can't she see that Nodoka is still miles behind?_

"She hasn't won yet, Saki" she softly reminded her sister. She wasn't thrilled that she was always the person who was pointing out the reality of the situation, but it would be better that she do this should Kiyosumi lose.

Saki was not dissuaded at all, leaping up with a fist pump. "I know onee-chan, but she is having so much fun! I wish I could be there playing with her!"

Teru raised her eyebrows. Saki never expressed a desire to play Mahjong for fun's sake alone. It was all either competitive or practise for her these days. Saki was more enthusiastic about the game in general since she played against the pink-haired girl in the inter-middle final, but this was still a first and Awai was obviously surprised as well, giving Teru a knowing look over Saki's shoulder.

She watched as Haramura Nodoka won her 3rd dealer hand with a ron on the Kazekoshi girl for a mangan with the honitsu. That was a shame really; another direct hit on Amae Koromo could have won her the game in a sense. A girl like that, who was used to dominating her opponents, would only respond to such an onslaught in two ways. She would either break, or she would push herself to her absolute limits. Teru hoped Amae Koromo was not a girl of the latter variety.

Winning hand- 1P 1P 1P 4P 5P 6P 7P 8P 9P 9P Chun Chun Chun (9P)

Dora indicator(s): 7S

Yaku: Yakuhai, Honitsu

**East round 1, bonus hand 3 Kiyosumi dealership-**

Hisa was extremely happy with the way things were going. The situation was almost too perfect. Amae Koromo's control was turning this into a game of mahjong for only two players in a sense. The other players who were not Amae Koromo or Nodoka were mere spectators and Hisa almost felt sorry for the two of them, neither of whom were able to make tenpai at all so far in the second hanchan.

One of them might have made it to tenpai again if the round ended in a draw, but none of these rounds were lasting nearly that long. With Amae Koromo's tendency to go for big hands and with all of the terminal and honours landing on Kazekoshi and Tsuruga she was not able to compete with Nodoka's speed. Koromo's hands were definitely fast, but Nodoka's speed was incredible. Yuuki cheered as Nodoka revealed yet another winning hand.

"Tsumo. Just a pinfu. 1300 all please." _NONOKA WON AGAIN!_ The Koromo did not know what was happening. _This girl should be broken! The Koromo made sure she stomped Nonoka's spirit into the ground in the first hanchan._ Yet Nonoka was dominating the board, completely ignoring the Koromo's control and had now won four times in a row on her dealership.

Winning hand- 4W 4W 1P 2P 3P 3P 4P 2S 3S 4S 7S 8S 9S (5P)

Dora indicator(s): Chun

Yaku: Tsumo, pinfu.

_That's it! Some link must have grounded her, and now her spirit is fresh and her arm is strong! How will the Koromo stop her?_ Just for a second- a tiny fraction of a second Koromo thought perhaps she should seal the flood gates. _NO! The Koromo will not negotiate with peasants begging for scraps! The Koromo will show this girl true darkness! The Koromo will not compromise!_

**East round 1, bonus hand 4 Kiyosumi dealership-**

Tsuruga's Yumi was not sure what was happening. She came back to the table truly bewildered about what she could do to stop the demon, yet now the demon didn't even seem to be in the match and Kiyosumi's Captain was dominating them with an impressive renchan. Between the ridiculously slow speed of her own hand and with the dealer often winning before the 10th turn she felt truly helpless. She only made iishanten a single time since the hanchan began, and in that instance the hand was over before she got another turn.

She glanced at Haramura Nodoka's discards. Since the beginning of the match her discards never seemed particularly strange. She glanced at her own discard pile and Kazekoshi's opposite_. All honours and terminals._ _What exactly is going on here?_ _Surely Amae Koromo will consider stopping doing whatever she was doing to mess up our draws_. Yumi sighed. The match was turning out to be quite frustrating.

_Miyanaga-san is watching._ That thought was never far from Nodoka's mind and she was on fire, and she knew it. She smiled down at her new tiles. She was on a win streak with four wins so far, and her latest starting tiles were pretty good too. _She told me to stop declaring Riichi, and it has worked so far._ Nodoka didn't understand Miyanaga Saki's reasoning but she could not deny the results. _Maybe these players are better at defending than they seem from my position? That reasoning would suffice at least if I wasn't winning so often by tsumo. It is just coincidence I guess. But I will keep it up now; I told her I trusted her and I do trust her. I will do this her way, I promised. Just watch me, Miyanaga-san._

"Pon." She called on Amae Koromo's 3 pin. It reduced the value of her hand but judging by Amae Koromo's discards her hand was probably an expensive one again, and so she decided that she should keep going for fast hands. Her hand was also still a good one, even now it was open.

Nodoka glanced at the teams who were not Ryuumonbuchi's discards once more and frowned. She often wondered in the back of her mind about the discards of the other players throughout her renchan. _Why do all the terminals and honours seem to be landing on them? _Nodoka was a veteran of thousands of games of online matches, and one had to constantly defend expertly to stay at the top but as the discards were looking now she could attack nearly freely. Only Ryuumonbuchi seemed to be getting anywhere with her hands. Amae Koromo actually chose that moment to discard one of her needed 8-pins to her delight. _I haven't scored one of these in a while, and never in real life..._

"Ron." She said calmly. "Sanshoku Douko, Tanyao, Toitoi. 12000 points please. 13200 with the renchan bonus." She was handed her sticks without a word. She was quite happy the little girl had dropped her ridiculous and arrogant attitude from before. She thanked her for the sticks.

Winning hand- 3W 3W 3W 6W 6W 8P 8P 3S 3S 3S [3P 3P 3P] (8P)

Dora indicator(s): 4S

Yaku: Tanyao, Toitoi, Sanshoku Douko

_What devilry is this? A dealer mangan?! It would have been a dealer haneman if she tsumo'd it… and I couldn't sense it at all… Why is she so fast? Why can't the Koromo control her? Iishanten for a baiman, ruined! And she had the nerve to thank me for my points! I am going to outrun her this time! I will see to it, and nary will a trace of her soul will remain after the Koromo is finished with it._

**East round 1, bonus hand 5 Kiyosumi dealership-**

"Pon" The Koromo called on the second turn. Kazekoshi had discarded a needed haku._ I'm breaking your dealer run even if it burns the Koromo to ashes! _

Koromo made it to tenpai on the 8th turn. _It's here!_

"Ron," that girl called out, as she discarded her last unneeded tile into her pond. The Koromo froze.

"What?" she whispered, staring blankly ahead.

"That's ron, I said. Just tanyao and a dora. 4400 with the renchan bonus, please."_ Is this girl some kind of demon?! Has this girl already descended unto the nether regions? Could this be the cause of this cursed girl's defiance? Is she but a corpse, a breathless, lifeless one? Is that why she moves so freely despite being submerged in my floods of despair? The Koromo understands! Corpses have no need for air to sustain their flesh. No need at all. That's definitely the way of it!_

Winning hand- 8W 8W 3P 4P 5P 6P 7P [6W 7W 8W] [2S 2S 2S] (2P)

Dora indicator(s): 9W

Yaku: Tanyao

**Fujita-pro: "She's at a loss? Koromo is at a loss?" **

**Male commentator: "Erm, yeah… but more importantly Haramura Nodoka has unbelievably taken first place, and she's done it with just one turn! An incredible response from Kiyosumi's girl considering her half time score! This renchan has been worth over 40,000 points!"**

**Fujita-pro: "That's true. She's doing far better than I expected her to do."**

**Male commentator: "What is the cause of her incredible strength here, Fujita-pro?"**

**Fujita-pro: "Hmm… I really don't know. The penguin really doesn't account for such a vast improvement."**

**Male commentator: "The penguin again..? Well, whatever the case is we now have a real match on our hands! Can Amae Koromo recover from this unprecedented renchan?"**

1.) Kiyosumi High School… 136,100… Haramura Nodoka… +20,600

2.) Ryuumonbuchi High School… 132,500… Amae Koromo… +25,700

3.) Tsuruga High School… 93,400… Kajiki Yumi… -7,100

4.) Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 38,000…Ikeda Kana… -39,200

"Hooray! We are first! Nodo-chan has just been AWESOME!" Maho was stood up, bouncing on her heels on the couch with Yuuki.

"So awesome!" agreed Yuuki herself.

They were not the only ones surprised at how well the princess had done, with Hisa feeling shocked herself. She was not expecting such an enormous win-streak out of the gates. _If Yuuki uses tacos power to perform well does that mean Nodoka uses Miyanaga Saki power?_ She laughed to herself when she wondered how Nodoka would respond if she made such a suggestion to her.

"President?" asked Kyoutarou, confused by the laugh.

"Don't worry about it, let's keep cheering on Nodoka."

The Koromo was astonished that someone in this prefecture could be such a meddlesome opponent. _I am behind… I have to seal the flood-gates. It's a full-moon and yet this opponent is forcing me to seal them shut! This is UNFORGIVABLE!_

**East round 1, bonus hand 6 Kiyosumi dealership-**

Yumi blinked twice in surprise when she realised she was in tenpai for the first time in the hanchan. It was just a simple yakuhai hand, but it meant that the demon had finally relented_._

"Riichi!" She declared, hoping Haramura Nodoka wasn't tenpai yet. But her discard of a 7-pin, the same tile Yumi had discarded to declare the riichi in the first place, brought a frown to her face. Looking at her other discards what had happened was obvious. _Haramura Nodoka instantly bailed when I declared riichi._ _On the 6__th__ Dealer bonus hand? She didn't even hesitate in her choice of discard_… _Does she have that bad a hand? Or is she just being careful because she is ahead?_

Yumi shrugged, the girl was so scarily fast right now that she preferred it that way, and would certainly not have done so if she were in Kiyosumi's shoes herself.

"Tsumo!" she announced several turns later. "Just a yakuhai, riichi and tsumo. 1000/2000 please. 1600/2600 with the win bonus."

Winning hand- 4W 4W 3P 3P 4P 4P 5P 7S 8S 9S Nan Nan Nan (2P)

Dora indicator(s): 9S-1W

Yaku: Riichi, Tsumo, Yakuhai

**Male commentator: "And FINALLY, Nodoka's dealership has ended! That was quite a streak with Haramura Nodoka overturning a massive 60,000 point gap in the very first round! It has given Kiyosumi back the lead against all the odds. If she keeps on playing like this she will pull out of range of the other three schools!"**

**Fujita-pro:** **"I wonder about that. Koromo may be on the back foot right now, but it is never safe to rule her out."**

**East round 2, Kazekoshi dealership-**

Nodoka was not finished just yet. _Not at all, I promised Miyanaga-san that I would win!_ After multiple calls Kazekoshi discarded her needed tile "Ron." She called out. She was not about to slow down and Kazekoshi discarded a risky tile, clearly out of desperation for a dealer repeat. "Yakuhai dora dora. 5800 please" she told the girl calmly.

Winning hand- 3S 4S 5S 5S [4W 5W 6W] [1W 2W 3W] [Haku Haku Haku] (2S)

Dora indicator(s):7P

Yaku: Yakuhai

"Nodoka has really stepped up for us today hasn't she?" Mako commented. "I was not expecting her to get the better of Amae Koromo like this."

Maho leapt to her feat then, ever eager to defend the princess that she admired, "But Nodo-chan is amazing! No one can beat her! She is rank one online! Her record is better than professionals! Professionals!"

Hisa smirked at the shameless boasting, "Yes, she really has worked hard for us out there" she said, and she meant it. Hisa was genuinely proud of Nodoka's performance so far. She was playing to her strengths determinedly and had truly blossomed in the second hanchan, and had even followed the somewhat illogical path of excluding riichi from her repertoire. Hisa knew just how hard it was for Nodoka to do such a thing. _I ought to remember that it was Miyanaga Saki who managed to convince our princess to do that… We may need to use that in future. _

"That reminds me. You said that weird thing before as if you knew this was going to happen." Mako scratched her chin. "Did something happen during the interim?"

Hisa smiled at her with a wink. "Who knows?"

**East round 3, Tsuruga dealership-**

_I need a dealer run here._ Tsuruga's Yumi was stuck in 3rd place, nearly 35,000 points behind Kiyosumi in First place. She picked up her starting tiles. _Not bad. Not bad at all._ She began the match. Kazekoshi did not discard a terminal besides a single west wind in the first 5 turns. _Kokushi Musou maybe?_ _Either way it seems that honour tiles will be dangerous to discard._ _How about this then?_ She picked up a 2-pin and discarded.

"Ron." Amae Koromo looked up. "This ridiculous situation has gone on long enough! That will be 18000!" _No way… Why did I disregard that demon?!_

Winning hand- 2P 1S 1S 1S 4S 4S 4S 7S 8S 9S Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu (2P)

Dora indicator(s): 3S

Yaku: Honitsu, Sanankou, Yakuhai

1.) Ryuumonbuchi High School… 148,900… Amae Koromo… +41,600

2.) Kiyosumi High School… 139,300… Haramura Nodoka… +23,800

3.) Tsuruga High School… 81,400… Kajiki Yumi… -19,300

4.) Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 30,600…Ikeda Kana… -46,600

**East round 4, Ryuumonbuchi dealership-**

Nodoka was back in second place. It had not taken long for her to fall back to second after taking first, but she knew there was still enough time to come back and win. _I will not let Miyanaga-san down if I can help it. _She looked at her new hand. It was Ryuumonbuchi's dealership, and she could not let that girl get a renchan here. She looked carefully at the opponents discards and decided that once again Ryuumonbuchi was dangerous, but it was obvious that Amae Koromo was waiting for Wan tiles and possibly some kind of honour tile. If she just discarded her low-number sou tile sets and focused on keeping any Wan tiles she would be able to stay aggressive. _Is this what Miyanaga-san meant by going head to head with people? I have no idea, but I will do my best. _

"Tsumo! 300/500 please" Nodoka let out a relieved sigh as she drew her tile. She had stopped Amae Koromo's dealership in its tracks.

Winning hand- 1W 1W 8W 9W 1P 2P 3P [1W 2W 3W] [Xia Xia Xia] (7W)

Dora indicator(s): 5P

Yaku: Chanta

**Male commentator: "This year's championship has turned out to be quite something hasn't it?"**

**Fujita-pro: "Yes it's been interesting. You could say it's been a two-horse race in more ways than one."**

**Male commentator: "What do you mean, Fujita pro?"**

**Fujita-pro: "Well, firstly there have been only two schools in it for a while now, and every hand almost feels like a race between the two girls. Haramura Nodoka wins most of them but when Amae Koromo wins she wins them big.**

**Male commentator: "That's an interesting way to look at it. Any predictions on who will take it?"**

**Fujita-pro: "Hmmm. Honestly I have no idea."**

**Male commentator: "Wait, what's this? Kazekoshi's Ikeda Kana suddenly let out a yell. What on earth is that about?"**

**Fujita-pro: "Hmmmm, I want to go to karaoke"**

**South round 1, Kiyosumi dealership**

"Did someone do something to the tiles?" The girl who had been rude enough to let out a yell during the game asked. _What kind of a question is that?_

"Ermm…" she tried but she did not get a chance to finish her thought.

"Anyway let's get started!" she said, still in a loud voice.

The Kiyosumi club room was buzzing thanks to how well Nodoka was doing. She was playing so incredibly well that Hisa wanted to drive down to Tokyo and give Miyanaga Saki a nice big hug herself. She also enjoyed the irony of the situation, which she happily pointed out to Mako, the way Nodoka had only disdain for all things extraordinary and yet seemed to be pretty extraordinary herself. Mako laughed and agreed with that, but then the club room was silent.

Their dreams may have just been nicked just when they finally looked like they might actually have a real shot at the win. It was a gradual thing, the club room realising what was happening with the girl from Kazekoshi's hand that was turning out to be insane. _At least Nodoka is a talented defensive player, and bailed appropriately when she realised the girl had a big hand._ Lesser players might have been too eager to go for a renchan to bail especially if their previous dealership had been as successful as Nodoka's, but it was still painful to see. _Why did it have to be on her dealership?_

Ikeda Kana placed her tile on the table. "Riichi ippatsu tsumo! Pinfu, junchan, sanshoku Iipeikouu, dora 3! 8000 16000!"

Winning hand- 7W 7W 8W 8W 9W 9W 7P 8P 9P 1S 1S 7S 8S (9S)

Dora indicator(s): 8P - 9S

Yaku: Riichi, Ippatsu, Tsumo, Junchan, Sanshoku, Iipeikouu

1.) Ryuumonbuchi High School… 140,400… Amae Koromo… +33,600

2.) Kiyosumi High School… 124,400… Haramura Nodoka… +8,900

3.) Tsuruga High School… 72,900… Kajiki Yumi… -27,600

4.) Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 62,300…Ikeda Kana… -14,900

Nodoka couldn't believe it. Her dealership had been ended by a tsumo Kazoe Yakuman and it was from the girl who had randomly let out a rude yell. She was now firmly behind Koromo in second place. Nodoka shook her head, knowing full well that it was soon to give up. _There are still 3 hands left! Miyanaga-san is watching! I will not let her down!_

**South round 2, Kazekoshi dealership-**

The next hand she received was mediocre. In fact saying it was mediocre was quite the understatement, 'Awful' would be more appropriate. Unless she drew really well she would probably be unable to win this hand. Nodoka knew it was unwise to rely on luck, but it was frustrating to receive such a bad hand at such an important time. She ponned a simple 2 Pin on the 5th turn. Still too many tiles away from tenpai, and calling any more tiles would be risky with Ryuumonbuchi's discards looking so dangerous. The girl wore a cruel smile on her face as she drew a tile from the wall.

"Tsumo!" Amae Koromo announced gleefully. "3000 6000!" She turned as she said it and stared at Nodoka, smiling viciously at her. Nodoka swallowed, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. _No no no this can't be happening… I was doing so well… I was going to go and see Miyanaga-san at the nationals. I was going to hold her hand and play with her and see her smile…_

Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 4W 5W 6W 7W 8W 9W 4P 5P 9S 9S (6P)

Dora indicator(s): 3W

Yaku: Ittsu, Tsumo, Pinfu

1.) Ryuumonbuchi High School… 152,400… Amae Koromo… +41,600

2.) Kiyosumi High School… 121,400… Haramura Nodoka… +5,900

3.) Tsuruga High School… 66,900… Kajiki Yumi… -33,600

4.) Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 59,300…Ikeda Kana… -17,900

The cruel girl even had the nerve to snigger at her tears_. NO! I will not give up here. I owe it to Miyanaga-san to play until the very end. But how am I supposed to do anything? There are only 2 hands left…_ _I am 31,000 points behind first place!_ _But…It's not impossible to win from here. It's still mathematically possible to win! _Nodoka wiped the tears from her eyes, determined to face forwards and not backwards. _I am going to make more memories with her!_

Nodoka knew she would have to drastically change her play style for the final 2 hands, and play a style she had not yet played at this competition. _Didn't I promise myself that I would do anything I could to win?_ _Didn't I promise Miyanaga-san that?_ For one thing she could not afford to bail, at all. Nodoka was also aware that cheap hands were unacceptable at this point. She would have to win with big hands that were preferably direct hits on Ryuumonbuchi. One thing was certain however, she was determined to not let Ryuumonbuchi win without a fight.

"I'm sorry, Saki." Teru thought Nodoka might actually win after seeing how the latest hanchan progressed, but now there was almost no hope. Teru wasn't about to cry herself, but she could certainly understand the sadness of the situation from her sisters eyes. It was cruel to be so close and then have it taken away in two turns like this.

To make matters worse, the girl they were cheering on, who seemed to be so stoic and emotionless for the entirety of the game so far, seemed to be crying. Saki didn't respond to her comment, and to Teru's surprise seemed to be mostly dry-eyed. She was busy staring intently at the screen with a weirdly focused look on her face. Awai took one look at her and simply shrugged as if to say "_what can we do about it?" _Teru turned back to the television. _It could be a long night._

**South round 3, Tsuruga dealership-**

Nodoka wiped her eyes and picked up her tiles. She instantly knew the tiles were not great. _This is just too much_… and she could not rely on Tsuruga, the current dealer, to win either; her discards had gone back to looking like she was receiving way too many useless honour and terminal tiles and the girl hadn't directly hit the girl from Ryuumonbuchi at all so far, meaning she wouldn't likely be any use even if she somehow did win besides from giving Nodoka another chance at a better hand.

Nodoka did her best to analyse her own tiles like she always did. _Mangan at best and that is if I get lucky with drawn tiles. Riichi could also be an option_… She violently pushed that idea out of her head. _I will not riichi here._ _I told Miyanaga-san I trusted her and I will not make myself into a liar twice over_. "Pon!" she called on a Chun. _At least I have a Yaku now, and it means riichi is out of the question anyway._

She kept playing, trying her hardest to play like her old calm self, keeping watch over her opponents' discards and the tiles they called like she always did. She currently just had Yakuhai and two dora. Amae Koromo looked like she had another big hand so she could not afford to spend the extra time trying to build a bigger hand. She was going to have to try again next hand. _I will win this one first._

On the next turn she drew the final chun and added it to her set. _Miyanaga-san…_

Saki's eyes widened_. I'm sure I just heard Haramura-san's voice just now… She's working so hard… "_She hasn't given up." She said simply to her sister and Awai. "She is still fighting."

"Saki-chan?" Saki heard Awai ask faintly, but Saki needed to focus on the television now. She knew that like she knew the sky was blue.

"Kan" Nodoka had to do it and hadn't let her hesitation last long. The new dora indicator was a Haku tile, which made the green dragon the new dora. _So close! If only the hatsu was the indicator instead… _She pushed that irrational, pointless thought aside. The tile she drew landed her in tenpai, fortunately. She discarded her last useless tile.

"Kan?" Saki didn't know what to make of Haramura-san declaring a kan. She supposed it was silly to think other people couldn't declare it, but it was the first time she had seen Haramura-san do it and it made her feel weird. _Haramura-san…_

Amae Koromo frowned. _Kan?_ That was surprising and slightly reckless. Given the score and how many rounds were left she supposed that it shouldn't have been surprising, but this girl had been the antithesis of recklessness thus far. That was not the strangest thing about it however. The girl had felt like a robot or a corpse so far, but for a moment there she felt strangely eerie. _It's like she has a demon hidden away, locked up and in shackles. A demon that has never seen the sun. I think… the demon is trying to break loose…_

"Pon" The Tsuruga player was eager to try and keep her dealership. It really was unlikely though, considering her discards compared with Amae Koromo's discards. Nodoka didn't feel bad when she drew the winning tile, ending the players' hopes of a renchan like her own.

"Tsumo." It wasn't for nearly enough points, but it left her in with a shot. "Yakuhai and 2 dora… 1600/3200 please."

Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 4W 4W 1P 1P 1P 4S 5S [Chun Chun Chun Chun] (6S)

Dora indicator(s):1W

Yaku: Yakuhai,

**South round 4, Ryuumonbuchi dealership-**

With the victory they were closer, but the scoreboard said everything about just how 'close' she was.

Ryuumonbuchi High School… 150,800… Amae Koromo… +44,000

Kiyosumi High School… 127,800… Haramura Nodoka… +12,300

Tsuruga High School… 63,700… Kajiki Yumi… -36,800

Kazekoshi Girl's High School… 57,700…Ikeda Kana… -19,500

Nodoka was still 22,900 points behind first place. She did not need a miracle to win, but she did at the very least need a good hand and a bit of luck. She turned over her new set of tiles. _Why does it have to be so weak?_ She was glad that Ryuumonbuchi was last dealer, or she didn't think there was any hope at all. She either needed to land a direct hit mangan (or better) or she needed to tsumo a baiman. She also supposed there were a few other hands that would win her the game if they were direct hits.

If she couldn't get 4 han, a 3 han, 60 fu hand would normally be the most realistic of the available hands that would win her the game with a direct hit, but unfortunately the hand she had drawn most likely didn't have the potential fu for it. _Miyanaga-san gets hands with lots fu all the time with her kans… _Nodoka could have smacked herself for thinking about such a pointless thing during such a moment.

She focused down on her tiles instead. She had a pair of south winds currently, which would be her yaku and a decent amount of fu assuming the third one came out, but, besides from her possible south wind meld she had no real opportunity to generate the fu required with this many sequences.

Gaining the fu needed for such a hand was especially unlikely given the odds that her south wind meld would be open rather than closed, and the dora this time was the 3-sou of which she had none of anyway. Her hand was pretty meagre for the most part unfortunately. _Yes, I should probably give up on the 3 han 60 fu hand._ Dora seemed like the most realistic solution. Nodoka didn't even want to think about the possibility that someone else had both of the other two south wind tiles in their hand.

On the 4th turn, much to Nodoka's delight, she drew a South tile to complete her set. _Finally, some luck! I won't have to open my hand for that meld now. _She looked over at Amae Koromo's discards. Two value-less wind tiles so far. _Nothing spectacular about that_. _How can I score off her? If she is smart she can just defend prematurely like I would do and I won't be able to do anything about it._

On the 7th turn she drew the dora 5-pin and she placed it next to the normal 5-pin she already had. _Okay that's a dora, but it's not enough without at least one more han, and I'll probably need two_. She discarded a 2-wan. _Iishanten._ All she had in terms of yaku was the round wind. That and one dora was not going to give her the points she needed. She broke her sequence of Wan tiles. She had to go for honitsu or something or there was no point even continuing.

It was the 11th turn of the hand, and Nodoka actually had some luck with drawing tiles. The game was often over by now, but as long as there was a possibility Nodoka would give it her everything to move forward, even though she was finding it hard to think straight at all. She was in tenpai for yakuhai dora, and whilst she had not been able to go for Honitsu, she had managed to change her hand to a possible sanankou.

She had started by discarding her 9-wan, only to pick up an 8 wan on the next turn. She then discarded her 7 wan leaving herself with an option to leave her two 8 wan as a pair with a possibility of going for a triplet. She had then luckily picked up another 8-wan, and so she was currently in tenpai for either a 5 pin or 3 pin. If she picked up one of those tiles she would have yakuhai, dora, sanankou. 4 han only, which was not nearly enough with a tsumo. If she won by ron currently she would not have the sanankou because the final set would count as open. To win she would effectively have to win twice; first she would need a completed hand such that Suuankou was completed, then she would have to snipe Amae Koromo with it. _There's no hope of a baiman now._

She looked at Amae Koromo's discards. She had just discarded a dora, indicating she was probably in tenpai. _Bailing out is not an option._ _I do not feel comfortable in this situation at all. This isn't online where second place is worth getting, only first matters!_

It was soon the 14th turn, and Nodoka was getting desperate. _I need something. I need anything!_ Nodoka was in tenpai but unless it was a direct hit on Amae Koromo it was worthless. She drew a tile. _Oh my god_. It was the fourth of the south wind tiles. She saw Miyanaga Saki's face clearly in her mind. _What would she do here? Declare kan without hesitation?_ _Would she win with a rinshan kaihou? _That wouldn't get Nodoka the required points anyway. _Would she even be in this situation?_ _She's considered an infallible captain who cannot lose in this round and I am nothing compared to her… _The fact that she was about to lose at the most important stage of her life was almost too much.

"Erm, Kiyosumi-san?" The girl who landed the kazoe yakuman earlier called softly. That girl was out of the game with no chance to win, and tears were streaming down her face. Her name was Ikeda Kana if Nodoka remembered it correctly, but Nodoka couldn't think straight enough to know for sure what her name was. _That doesn't matter right now._

"Ah sorry," she murmured, dazed.

_I wonder what you're thinking as you watch this Miyanaga-san. I was so close to winning, and now I'm throwing my emotional towel in and am praying for some of your luck. I don't even care if it's superstitious nonsense or not anymore. Just please let me win!_

Nodoka straightened herself out. "Kan!" She announced, emulating that girl who was so special to her. She found herself stupidly thinking that at least she had more than 60 fu now. _70 even._ She laughed quietly as she flipped the two south tiles on the outside around like she had seen Miyanaga Saki do all those times, and then moved her hand over to the dora indicator.

"Oh my god!" Saki's body jolted, and Teru really felt it as she was currently stood next to her. Saki was clutching her arm pretty tightly. Teru honestly could not believe what she was seeing. _What on earth is going on? This girl is no monster, just some kind of unreadable robot. This shouldn't be happening._ The commentators were going crazy with excitement. Teru glanced over at Awai. Saki was clutching her arm just as hard, but she seemed as transfixed on the television as Saki was.

Amae Koromo stood up as if in protest. Nodoka found she didn't much care what that particular girl thought.

The entire room fell silent. The new dora was her very own kan of south winds! Nodoka's hand had been transformed into a baiman, just like that. She reached her hand over to the dead wall.

"It can't be!" Amae Koromo was frozen on the spot, transfixed on the tile in the dead wall.

Nodoka was barely aware of the fact that she was chanting a crude and silent prayer inside her own head. _Please be it please be it please be it please be it please be it please be it please be it... _

She brought the tile to her chest, hardly daring to look at it. She couldn't believe she was being so irrational. She turned the tile over. Her heart skipped a beat.

Tears ran down her face as she announced it, clumsily knocking the tiles over with the new 5-pin. "Tsumo!" She said loudly, her voice thick with emotion. "Sanankou, 5 dora, Yakuhai, Tsumo and Rinshan Kaihou!" That will be 8000 4000 please!"

Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 5P 5P 3P 3P 8W 8W 8W {Nan Nan Nan Nan} (5P)

Dora indicator(s): 2S, Ton.

Yaku: Tsumo, Sanankou, Yakuhai, Rinshan Kaihou

The entire Kiyosumi club exploded.

"Oh my god!" Yuuki screamed, as Mako and Hisa high-fived. Maho jumped into Yuuki's arms, ecstatic.

Hisa looked up at the scoreboard.

Kiyosumi High School … 143,800 … Haramura Nodoka … +28,300

Ryuumonbuchi High School … 142,800 … Amae Koromo … +36,000

Tsuruga High School … 59,700 … Kajiki Yumi … -40,800

Kazekoshi Girl's High School … 53,700 … Ikeda Kana … -23,500

_She really did it._ Hisa could not believe it, but Haramura Nodoka had really won for the team. She wondered what could be going through Nodoka's mind right now. It was not just a typical game of Mahjong; she had called out for a miracle and she had received one. _Is that the power of a demon or a god? And who (or what) exactly had granted it?_

**Male commentator: "Oh my goodddd! And she gets the baiman! She's done it! Haramura Nodoka turns it around in the last hand for her team in a reversal victory, and what a way to do it!"**

**Fujita-pro: "I did not see that coming. It's almost as though this girl has been taking note of Miyanaga Saki."**

**Male commentator: "Ah yes, that girl specialises in Rinshan Kaihou come-from-behind wins as well, doesn't she?"**

Teru had no idea how it had happened, but somehow Haramura Nodoka pulled out the hand required for the win, and she did it in the last hand with her sisters' signature Yaku. When Saki realised Kiyosumi were going to win she just gasped loudly as tears ran down her face whilst she embraced Awai. Teru couldn't help but feel happy for her; her friend had kept her promise. It was their turn tomorrow and Teru didn't think her sister could lose to anyone after watching that.


	7. Chapter 7 - Shiraitodai

**Chapter 7- Shiraitodai.**

* * *

Nodoka was hugging Etopen to her stomach as she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Despite the toy's presence she was not sure it would be possible for her to sleep tonight. _I won. Miyanaga-san was watching and I get to watch her play tomorrow…_ She hugged Etopen closer to her face, excited, too excited for sleep. She had talked with Miyanaga-san for over an hour after the win despite the fact that she felt she was neglecting her teammates by doing so.

She had been guiltily aware that they were spending the time in her absence celebrating without her, but Nodoka could not help herself. It had taken the president coming and asking for her phone back to end the conversation. Nodoka still felt embarrassed that she had not been using her own phone and was grateful that the president had been so generous with allowing her to use it for so long.

Nodoka was well aware of how much she owed the president. _She was the one who got Miyanaga-san on the phone for me in the first place._ _She never admitted as much, but who else could it have been?_ She sincerely thanked the president for everything after Miyanaga Saki had said her goodbyes, giving her a low bow. Nodoka supposed that was probably an awkward thing to do, but she thought it was an important show of appreciation all the same.

She wondered how Amae Koromo was taking the defeat. Was she blaming luck, as Nodoka herself had done after losing at the middle school individuals? Was she happy that she played someone who could play 'properly' (whatever that means) against her like she indicated after the game? Nodoka had been baffled to the point where she was nearly speechless when the girl had approached her with a smile that was completely at odds with the girl she played against in the match.

Nodoka had just stood there dumbfounded as Amae Koromo professed how much fun the match had been and that she wanted to play against Nodoka again at some point soon._ She pronounced it Nonoka though._ She even went so far as to ask Nodoka to be her friend, which was surprisingly touching, if not perhaps slightly awkward considering the rude things the girl said during the game. Nodoka had agreed, of course. To not do so after such a game would have been the height of bad manners and besides, Nodoka had enjoyed the match as well and strong opponents were always welcome.

Not for the first time, Nodoka found herself contemplating exactly how long the odds were that she would win like that. At the time she hadn't had much of a plan at all. She remembered hoping to draw a tile that would complete her hand, not so she could tsumo it, but so that she would have been able to make her pair wait a tile Amae Koromo might have falsely deemed safe, probably in the form of an odd single pair wait. She would also have to have been lucky enough that Amae Koromo would actually draw the tile in the first place and that it wouldn't be a useful tile to her own hand.

That was literally all she had. The suuankou was the problem because it is a yaku that, unlike other hands, does not count unless all three sets are completed by a self-draw including the final tile, so it wouldn't have counted if she had ronned the girl with that hand. She would have had to break whichever of her pairs was not completed by the new tile and then would have spent at least one turn in furiten for that ridiculous gambit to work. Realistically, she would have had literally one or two turns at most to win off of Ryuumonbuchi at most. _Winning that way would actually have been more feasible statistically than the way I won in the end, though._ _When I saw what the new dora was… _

The media had all but refused to leave Nodoka alone after the game. After the customary winners' interview she was roped into talking to a variety of different media groups. She was actually usually quite fond of the media as it was they after all who made making a living as a Mahjong professional possible, but today was something else. She felt like she had talked non-stop for over an hour, even though she really didn't have anything interesting to say and it had tired her out.

_How many different ways can I tell them that the last hand was just lucky? Mahjong is just like that sometimes. No it was not some Deity's blessing or any kind of demonic power. It was luck, pure and simple. No I did not summon an ancient spirit, or release the seals of an evil god. It was coincidence, chance, a fluke or whatever you wanted to call it, anything at all._ Nodoka was really quite generous on that front. _Just stop blaming superstitious garbage. _

Nodoka sighed inwardly. It was unbelievable how many times she had been asked about that one hand. _Is that all it takes for them to forget a dealer win-streak that lasted six entire hands?_ In some rules she would have been awarded automatic yakumans after just a few more victories, although parenchans were not recognised in the inter-high tournament this year. Some people in the media were speculating that the rule was because of Miyanaga Saki's sister and her winning streaks, but Nodoka found that idea preposterous.

That renchan really had been something, though. It was that win-streak that Nodoka was truly proud of, gameplay wise. Her speed had come into its own during it and she dominated the table with precision, leaving Amae Koromo and the others behind. The renchan required luck, of course, but it was her skill that saw those hands home. Miyanaga Saki had understood that. She didn't even mention the specifics of the final hand on the phone, but sang Nodoka's praises with regards to the win-streak at length. She felt the blood rushing to her face just thinking about it.

Nodoka stood up, defeated. She glanced at the clock on the small table next to her bed. _3:36 AM. I'm not going to get any more sleep tonight._ She went downstairs to the kitchen, got herself a glass of water and spent the rest of the night playing mahjong on the net.

Hisa had originally planned a relaxing trip to the swimming pool today to try and help their team relax as kind of a reward. After the emotions and anxieties they as a club had experienced during the final she thought that such a venture could only be good, but she now knew that wasn't going to happen. She supposed the club could go anyway, but they would have to leave Nodoka behind. Hisa sighed out loud. She would have to drag Haramura Nodoka by the hair to get her outside today and she didn't want anyone to be left out. That kind of thing had the potential to cause alienation within a team which, whilst would not only be bad in terms of performance, was inherently unpleasant as well for everyone.

Hisa scrapped the swimming pool idea and instead made some of her underlings on the student council move a television up to the Mahjong room. She supposed that was probably an abuse of power, but she felt her team's performance had earned the right to do such a thing. She also had them help bring extra seating in. Hisa was glad Shiraitodai were probably not going to struggle to get through. She wanted her team to relax, Nodoka in particular, and she looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep when she arrived at the club room, an hour before the match was supposed to start.

"Feeling okay Nodoka?" she asked her.

"Just fine, thank you. And you president?" she replied courteously. _She's still as prim and proper as usual, then._

"I'm just fine." Hisa paused, "How does it feel to be going to nationals? Had any problems?"

"Yes it is wonderful. The media has been relentless though. Even more so than usual. They keep calling my house… It's lucky my Father is out of town right now…"

"I'm not surprised, that was quite a way to win the match yesterday. Hopefully they will tone it down soon."

Haramura Nodoka had somehow been transformed into the shining beacon of hope for normal players everywhere. Hisa wasn't sure how that was possible considering the winning hand yesterday, but she supposed it had something to do with Nodoka's attitude in interviews. She was her same stubborn self when it came to superstition, even in front of the camera and regardless of that hand. The attention Kiyosumi would receive as a result would probably end up being a good thing too. Beating Amae Koromo put them on the map, so to say.

Doors that were closed to them before were open now, and they would be able to vastly increase their club budget, which Hisa was in a prime position to make sure happened. Other schools may even come to fear them a little bit; Amae Koromo being defeated in the qualifiers was big news but Hisa was slightly worried that some of their play-styles and abilities would be figured out faster because of the attention. Hisa's own ability and Yuuki's in particular would likely only take a glance to figure out.

Mako's on the other hand was much harder to figure out, and Hisa wasn't sure herself what was going on with Nodoka. Maho also represented an unknown. She wasn't sure how long hers would remain hidden. After glancing at the play record from the tournament she thought it was most likely that she seemed like a total beginner, but managed to score one massive hand that would attract the attention of opposing teams. Fortunately, there were a lot of ways to interpret that.

Nodoka made them some tea whilst they waited and never responded to her comment, but it didn't take long for the rest of the club to show up. Mako came in first and Maho and Yuuki arrived together, arguing loudly about which of the two of them were taller of all things. Hisa looked up at the clock, there were still a good twenty minutes before the match would begin and the commentators were already talking about Miyanaga Teru and her sister.

Nodoka was quite focused on the television, interested in the talk about their play styles but she was quite clearly frowning every time rinshan kaihou was mentioned. Her own name actually came up at one point and they spent some time comparing her to both of the Miyanaga sisters. First they talked about the dealer win streak out of the gates being very Teru-esque, and then they inevitably compared the final hand Nodoka won with some of Miyanaga Saki's wins. They were an uncomfortable few minutes for the princess who was visibly agitated during the exchange.

Shiraitodai were actually placing joint-last after the dealer won with a tsumo in the first hand but it was soon clear which team was going to win_. The older Miyanaga is just ridiculous. _Hisa was sat on a small sofa with Mako, Kyoutarou was sitting on the floor next to Yuuki who was sharing the main club bench with Maho and Nodoka. Nodoka was surprisingly quiet throughout the match. The first hanchan was over and Miyanaga Teru was at 152,000 points, more than 65,000 points ahead of second place.

"That girl is even scarier than Amae Koromo!" Yuuki commented, a hint of wonder in her voice.

"She even has wins where she knocks teams down to zero on her own." Mako pointed out.

"Wahhh! Scary!" Yuuki was not scared enough to go straight back to chomping on her taco, though. Hisa felt anxious just watching the girl plough through the other teams. _How can we stop her?_ _This taco-munching girl is the person who would have to play against Miyanaga Teru if we draw them. _Hisa did not delude herself. As of right now Yuuki did not stand a chance against her and nor did anyone else on Kiyosumi's team. Even Nodoka was not as fast as the champion, and she was not nearly as consistent. Miyanaga Teru hit winning streaks as long as Nodoka's against Koromo every match.

The other three schools were clearly prepared with a game plan, and were quite shamelessly working together. They continued where the first hanchan left off and were constantly calling seemingly useless tiles just to try and disrupt the champion, but it didn't seem to be doing much.

Nodoka did not like that at all. "If they just stopped and thought things through a bit more rationally they'd realise they were just butchering their own hands, and doing nothing to stop Shiraitodai with those illogical gambits. They would fare much better if they played a more standard style."

"How can you be sure about that though?" Mako asked her. "She apparently even consistently beats mahjong pros with her win streaks."

"Miyanaga-san says she can stop it." Nodoka replied calmly. Hisa raised her eyebrows at that. _Is she… bragging..?_

Mako merely shrugged and told her in curt fashion that she was not surprised.

When the first round finally came to an end, the three teams that were not Shiraitodai looked distraught. Hisa couldn't help but feel bad for them, in particular there was one girl called Rentarou Mariko who was instrumental in ending each of Miyanaga Teru's dealer streaks. The girl's hair was straight and black and she wore a cute pink hairpin. Hisa liked that girl and felt particularly sorry for her out of the three schools. Hisa didn't think she deserved to be so many points behind first place and even though she must have been extremely frustrated she did not give up even when nearly 100,000 points behind.

It seemed that Teru's streak was easier to break the later on it was, as she had some kind of habit where she needed to score higher in every hand and those later hands took longer to build, giving her opponents a chance to get to a cheap win to end the streak, which the girl Rentarou had managed twice, each time with a simple toitoi with lots of calls.

Hisa was curious to see how the next girl from Shiraitodai would fare. She wanted to see how the other teams would go about trying to score big points in the next round. That was surely what teams must try as far as Hisa could tell. _How else can Shiraitodai be defeated? You have to attack the few weaknesses their line-up has, even if most teams would not consider them weaknesses in the slightest if those same players were part of their own team._

Hirose Sumire was not a disappointment and actually gained points during the round. It started off hopeful for the other girls when a player scored a haneman tsumo in the second hand whilst Shiraitodai was the dealer, but Sumire was not missing any of her direct hits, and ended up with just under +10000.

Takami Shibuya was up next. The girl was still fairly unknown so far. She hadn't done anything in particular during Shiraitodai's only other game at the tournament, and considering the score line she probably wouldn't have to do anything here either, which meant that the only useful records of her would come from the individual tournament. That would only be true if Shiraitodai weren't strict enough to tell her not to use whatever ability she had there. Hisa could understand it if they were, though. What chance did she exactly have getting top 3 in the west Tokyo prefecture? Both of the Miyanaga sisters and Oohoshi Awai were expected to sign up for them, and it was a very large prefecture compared to Nagano.

As expected, as far as Hisa could tell Takami Shibuya was just a normal girl playing a very normal style of mahjong and she ended the round with -8200. Not a terrible score but obviously not a great score either. The school in second place gained quite a few points on Shiraitodai in the round and they had managed to open up a gap between themselves and 3rd place. Hisa thought they could even make it back up to 100,000 if Oohoshi Awai played normally as expected.

Part way through Oohoshi Awai's performance Yuuki spoke up, "These girls don't seem that special besides from their vanguard," she said. "And she will lose anyway, being up against me! At this rate we will destroy them at the nationals! I thought these girls were supposed to all be national class monsters!"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Mako asked her. "They are obviously just holding back so people won't know what they can do. And if you beat the champion I will buy you all the tacos you ever want."

"Oh-ho! You will regret those words Mako-senpai!"

Hisa glanced over at Nodoka, who she was expecting to speak up given Mako's comment which would surely count as illogic in her eyes. She could just hear her now_, 'Mahjong is just about picking the most logical thing to improve your odds at winning, hiding what you can do makes no sense!'_, but the girl remained strangely quiet. Hisa shrugged inwardly, _she's probably just excited about watching the junior Miyanaga play._

"Mako's right," she agreed, "Oohoshi Awai in particular is supposed to be really scary, but she's not really doing anything right now, though I have to wonder about some of her wins in other tournaments. Takami Shibuya was the same. Hirose Sumire and Miyanaga Teru both played properly because people know the Torahime's play styles already."

Hisa always deliberately phrased it play styles and not abilities or powers, even when Nodoka was not there. She did not want to accidentally antagonize Nodoka, who could easily detract a simple mention of the word abilities or powers into a discussion about her own bad waits, and so she did her best to make play-styles the phrase she used out of habit.

"Don't you want to call Miyanaga Saki, Nodoka?" She asked the girl. "Her game will start soon."

"No thank you president. I think I will call her to congratulate her after she wins." She had obviously already thought about when she should call the girl considering how quick and measured her response was. _Her cute innocence will surely not go on forever._ Hisa wondered if Nodoka realised her own certainty that Miyanaga Saki would win could easily be considered pretty irrational logically speaking.

Oohoshi Awai ended the round with a draw after winning several hands in the second hanchan. _She is pretty good even without her abilities._ She wondered whether it was actually possible to exploit her at all like she originally thought after seeing the girl unnecessarily play into a hand that time. _Maybe Shiraitodai noticed that as well._ Hisa would have to think on that more, she would be her own opponent after all should they play against Shiraitodai come the nationals.

Soon enough, Miyanaga Saki was making her way to the table. Hisa thought she would probably just play with everything she had if she was anything like Nodoka. Whilst her play style was obviously going to be different to Nodoka's, Nodoka would be watching this game. Whether that held the same significance for Miyanaga Saki that it did for Nodoka Hisa didn't know, but she was pretty sure Nodoka wouldn't be so happy every time they talked if she hadn't returned her affection. Her play style was also already well-known, meaning she had no reason to hold back.

Hisa thought that the girl came off as pretty meek and shy as she was making her way to the table, but that all changed when she began playing. Hisa was hoping they would see some rinshan kaihous and the girl didn't disappoint her. Hisa thought that the risk of losing her pseudo-stealth mode against monsters if she acknowledged them was minimal, and so Hisa thought Nodoka would be better off if she acknowledged abilities like Koromo's and Miyanaga Saki's. _She's got a pretty powerful ability herself after all. _That digital mode she used had never seemed fully normal to Hisa even before she defeated Amae Koromo.

To say it was a slaughter was an understatement; it was a symphony of destruction. She attacked the school that was 4th until they were minus similarly to how she did it the first time Hisa had watched her, and it didn't take her long. The only other player who won a hand won with a big dealer tsumo that also really hurt the team who eventually ended in the negatives. The commentators were having a field day with it, describing her as perhaps the scariest of the national class monsters, besides her sister. It was too much for Yuuki who could not believe how brutally Miyanaga Saki had pulverised the school into the ground.

"She's just unbelievable…" Yuuki was staring at the weak-looking girl on the screen as she walked slowly out of the hall. She had her head down and at first glance, one would be more likely to guess that she had been leaving after a defeat rather than a crushing victory. "Scary… How are we supposed to be able to beat monsters like that?"

"That was just insane…" Maho agreed.

Suddenly Nodoka stood up, too quickly. Hisa raised her eyebrows. "I'm going home." she said shortly, and made for the door. There was no question of the tears in her eyes.

Kyoutarou was the first to speak up, "Huh, what's going on?"

"Eh?" Yuuki yelped, surprised. "Was she angry..?" She was understandably confused. _This is exactly the same as the other day. She suddenly becomes upset after Miyanaga Saki destroys someone? That makes no sense… unless… no way…_ Hisa realised she needed to make a decision. She wasn't sure it would be the right one, but she knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to leave Nodoka alone right now. Nodoka left the small building without picking up her bag which meant she probably didn't even have her phone, and Hisa knew how much she wanted to call the girl up.

"Don't worry about her Yuuki, I'll go get her." Hisa made her way to the club exit. Mako looked at her strangely and raised her arms in a confused gesture. Hisa just winked at her and made her way after Nodoka.

It didn't take Hisa long to find the princess. Nodoka was sitting on a bench within seeing distance from the pathway leading away from the club room's building, just staring down at her skirt.

"Nodoka… she didn't mean it; she was just in awe of the way she plays." Hisa began. Nodoka looked up from the bench she was sitting on, startled. Her eyes were quite red.

"I…" Nodoka wiped her face again with her sleeve before continuing, "I… know… Yuuki doesn't deserve this from me… I'm such a mess." she sniffed, "I don't know why I hate it so much, it's just so irrational." She wiped at her face whilst Hisa took a seat next to her.

Hisa placed a hand on her shoulder, relieved at least that Yuuki wasn't getting the blame. "Don't worry about it Nodoka. You care about her, and if what you have told me about Miyanaga Saki is true she probably doesn't like being called a monster. You are just being protective. It's perfectly normal." Hisa wasn't sure how such a ruthless mahjong player could be as sweet in person as Nodoka described, but she knew she wouldn't want to hear that from her.

"Maybe… I guess you are right." Nodoka looked like she was feeling slightly better, at least.

Hisa took out her phone. "Go on, you want to call her, right? I'm sure she would appreciate hearing from you." Nodoka took the phone gratefully.

"Thank you president. I shouldn't lean on you like this."

"Don't worry about it Nodoka; it's my job to be leaned on by my juniors." Hisa winked at her and let her get on with it, happy that Nodoka was finally opening up to her a little. Hisa didn't think Nodoka would ever talk to her like that about her true feelings... _Not before she met a certain girl at least._ _Miyanaga Saki really is doing wonders for our princess... Her mahjong as well, come to think of it. _Hisa laughed at the thought and made her way back to the clubroom.

"Yes?" came the response from the phone. That was Miyanaga Teru, Nodoka knew. It was times like this that Nodoka found herself wishing that Miyanaga-san owned a phone all over again.

"Hello, sorry to intrude like this again, but I was wondering if I could speak to Miyanaga-san."She didn't get a response, instead she just heard Miyanaga Teru say "Saki, it's for you" faintly. She then realised she had literally just asked a Miyanaga if she could speak to "Miyanaga-san" and couldn't believe her own stupidity. _I'm such an idiot._ She was in the middle of panicking with regards to her mistake when the girl answered, immediately putting her mind at ease.

"Haramura-san! You called!" _How can she always be so cheerful?_

"Miyanaga-san! Of course I did, you were incredible, attacking that team like that."

Miyanaga-san laughed shyly at that. "It was because… my sister and the others took off a lot of their points already…"

"Miyanaga-san, that team still had 46800 points remaining when you began.'

Nodoka enjoyed listening to the girl scramble at her comment, "Err… I don't know… err yeah…" she stammered.

Nodoka laughed lightly into the phone, "You are so amazing Miyanaga-san. How do you do it?"

"Erm… Honestly I don't know. I just remember thinking about your performance yesterday, and I knew that you were watching. I couldn't even think about losing like that."

"Miyanaga-san…"

_ "_You were more amazing anyway, Haramura-san. Amae Koromo was the MVP of the inter-high championship last year you know?" _She is just so cute to turn around a compliment like that._

"I was just lucky." Nodoka paused, not knowing what to say. "I-

Saki began speaking at the same time. "Haramura-san?"

"Yes?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, it's fine. Please continue."

"I was wondering… If you don't mind… Could you maybe … erm…" Nodoka was trying to listen to the girl properly, but could only think about how cute the girl's stumbling was. "What I mean is… I think maybe it would be a good idea to train together for the nationals!" Her voice had risen almost in a crescendo as she finished, but Nodoka was confused. _That doesn't make any sense._

"Miyanaga-san, I would love to except national competitors aren't allowed to play against each other before the tournament according to the rules." Nodoka explained calmly. _That sure would have been nice though._

"Sorry I know that, I'm being stupid. Let me explain. Your president, she's doing this camp thing my sister says, see? You, Ryuumonbuchi and some other schools are doing a joint training camp. She called onee-chan up and convinced her it was a good idea to participate. The best practise we can get is probably going to be by playing players like Amae Koromo, and there's going to be a pro there as well… so onee-chan and sensei were okay with it..." Saki took a deep breath. "Sorry, that was long winded. "

Nodoka felt her heart thump. _The president did this… She's always doing things for me._

"Haramura-san?" She sounded worried.

"Yes, sorry Miyanaga-san. I would of course love to see you again. Erm sorry… I mean train with you for nationals." Nodoka instinctively put her head in her free hand out of irritation with herself. _I have to stop doing this, Miyanaga-san is going to realise how creepily adoring I am of her eventually._ Luckily Miyanaga Saki just laughed, and Nodoka found she enjoyed just listening to the laugh. It wasn't a mocking laugh, or a cruel laugh, but instead an embarrassed laugh simply because she had taken it as a compliment and it put Nodoka at ease. Once she finished Nodoka asked, "Do you know where the training camp will take place?"

"Your president should have the details. I can't wait!"

"Miyanaga-san, it's not over yet, right? We still have the individuals left. We can't relax yet!" Nodoka scolded half-heartedly. Nodoka thought she could say anything she felt like to this girl and not be judged or criticised for it. She could not wait for this training camp, whenever and wherever it was held.

"Umm, yeah…" replied Miyanaga Saki, suddenly extremely quiet. _That response is not like Miyanaga-san. Not like the Miyanaga-san from 30 seconds ago at least._

"Is something wrong, Miyanaga-san?" Nodoka asked her, concerned.

"No not really, Haramura-san. Anyway onee-chan says we should leave soon, so I guess I have to say goodbye now" Nodoka frowned at that. This was the first time she felt like she had ever held something back from Nodoka.

"Goodbye, Miyanaga-san!" She replied, mustering up cheerfulness she wasn't feeling.

"I told you she didn't think you were a monster." Awai told her when she hung up.

"Yeah, I'm glad." Saki had already realised that when she called Haramura during the interim of her match with Amae Koromo, but she was happy that she called.

Awai leaned close. "Are you okay, Saki-chan?"

"Yeah, no problem." She said. _The individuals? Hmm…_


	8. Chapter 8 - Individuals

**Chapter 8 - The Individuals**

**Note: Should you be a previous reader (who hasn't read the first 7 chapters recently) you may want to skim them as they are different and, in my honest opinion, improved. I am not arrogant enough to think people should waste their time reading my story twice of all things, but I feel I should at least leave this here in case anyone would prefer to do that. There are quite a few changes.  
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The day of the individuals arrived quickly, and Nodoka was going to win. She had looked at the calendar detailing when games were played during the team tournament, and realised that, depending on how their team did, that her time at the nationals could be extended by nearly 2 weeks in the most extreme case if she qualified for the individuals as well as the team tournament. She wasn't prepared to let that kind of time go without a fight, and she eagerly awaited the games' beginning.

She met the rest of Kiyosumi at the train station. Today was a particularly special day as Kyoutarou was finally going to be able to participate in a competitive game of mahjong. Nodoka wondered how well he would do. _That's a lie._ Nodoka knew exactly how well he would do. It was actually quite astonishing how he could remain at that level when he played so often against strong opponents. It was not Nodoka's ego talking either; she and the president would both boss around the male championships all day if they were allowed to enter, as likely would Yuuki or Mako. Kyoutarou should have been getting better playing against them all the time like this.

"Okay, today's games are in the following format," the club president started. "There will be 20 East rounds on the first day. You have to get above a certain rank to qualify for the second day of games. I want everyone to at least qualify for the second day!"

The club members murmured their agreement at that. Anything less would be a disappointment. Nodoka was worried about Maho's chances though, who was still extremely inconsistent.

When midday came, the members of the mahjong club gathered together to eat lunch. The ever reliable president had been sure to let them all know when they would eat together. Nodoka was comfortably positioned in 3rd place and would easily qualify for the next day's matches. Yuuki was ranked first, and had been amazing as the format really played to her strengths; it actually looked like Yuuki might set a new record of points gained on the opening day of the individuals for the Nagano prefecture.

Mako and Hisa were both comfortably positioned as well, but Maho was living it dangerously on the verge of being disqualified if she didn't improve. Much to Nodoka's simultaneous disappointment and relief, Amae Koromo decided not to enter the individuals, which meant that there would be less competition for places, but also meant they wouldn't be able to compete against each other again. Kyoutarou found them during lunch and was slinking towards them with his head down.

"Ah, doggy! How did it go?" asked Yuuki.

Kyoutarou groaned. "I lost."

"You lost?" Nodoka asked, "There are no eliminations today though."

"There were so many boys that there were. I am so sorry. I have disgraced the good name of the Kiyosumi high school mahjong club!" Kyou-chan sunk to his knees, and lowered his head in a shameless bow.

"Don't worry," Yuuki soothed, "You can still be my doggy. Remember to keep me stocked up with tacos!"

"Sure sure…" he responded, resigned to his fate.

Teru was concerned. Saki was playing for +/- 0 for reasons that Teru did not understand and was barely going to qualify for the second day. Teru did not know what to say to her to get her to play properly. Teru was extremely disappointed with how the day had gone. She had started the day hoping it would be fun competing with her sister for first place, but Teru was so far out in front in first place that there was no chance of anyone catching her up even with so many games left. Awai might have presented some competition except she wasn't allowed to use her double riichi ability at all during the individuals.

It was not that difficult to get Awai to agree to save the ability for the team tournament in case a surprise was needed. Teru did not run a dictatorship and had discussed it with the rest of the team, and they had all agreed that it would be worth it although Saki did not say a word when they talked about it. Their coach did not have anything to say either, as she usually spent most of her time with the substitutes and so their team discussions were mostly held without her. It was fortunate that Awai was the type of girl with a huge amount of self-confidence. Awai was sure she would make it with just her delaying ability, and Teru thought she was probably right.

The single east round rules were actually unfavourable for Teru with the way her Shoumakyouability worked, meaning Saki would very possibly beat her if she played properly. It would certainly be the most challenging tournament Teru had played at if Saki tried her best. Because of her Shoumakyou, when she was the first dealer she often didn't win by much at all. It was because, in these east only rounds, she would never get a chance for a dealer streak. This meant she would only win three small hands before the game would end. Although it hadn't happened yet, if a girl were to get a large enough win in the first hand with Teru as dealer she could even easily come second, even against three completely normal girls.

She was expecting her sister to beat her in the single east round games because she had none of those limitations. Against strong opponents Saki would often sit back and observe and not just for a single hand either, but against these kinds of opponents she would be able to play at full power from the start. She also had nothing that would limit her points. Teru had to start her win streaks with small hands to get it going, but Saki could win with massive hands on the first turn.

Teru shrugged inwardly; Saki was probably going to qualify for the second day anyway so there wasn't any real reason to start any trouble over it.

Hisa wasn't too concerned with how things had gone so far for the majority of the team, but sadly Maho had not managed to qualify for the second day. The small girl was shuffling slowly towards their group, and it was obvious at a glance that she was upset. Her eyes were watering and she was averting her eyes from her teammates who weren't doing a very good job of softening the tension. Hisa realised what was happening and walked forward.

Yuuki beat her to the punch however, "Don't worry Maho; it was those evil old men who are running this thing…" She waved her arm in an exaggerated gesture, indicating that possibly the very building they were in could be at fault, "They just fear that power in your left arm Ma-chan! They conspired against you when you parted the skies yesterday against Ryuumonbuchi… We will not let them get away with it!" Maho laughed a bit at that, at least

Nodoka made her way to Maho and hugged her close. "You gave it your best shot Maho-chan. You can't do more than that, right?" she said, soothingly. _She might have gotten through if she didn't get drawn against you, princess._ Maho wasn't taking the loss personally, but Nodoka really was a ruthless player. She even directly hit Maho with a mangan during their game together.

Yuuki took her other arm, "We will definitely avenge you tomorrow!"

"Okay…hic…" Maho wiped her face on Nodoka's sleeve, to which Nodoka smiled and stroked her head affectionately. "Thank you Nodo-chan, Yuu-chan…"

Hisa did feel sorry for Maho. She had not had an easy run at all. She had played plenty of high-end players from Kazekoshi, but barely any of them had abilities she could take advantage of, and Maho hadn't been lucky enough to draw Touka at all. To complete the run of bad luck when she used Nodoka's ability the round just ended in a draw.

Despite all of that she would have gotten through if she had taken first or possibly even second on the last table, but some girl who didn't take part in the team tournament forced it into the south round and then proceeded to win every hand, knocking Maho down to third. Unfortunately it seemed to be a round specific ability, and with the rules the way they were Maho had tried to use the ability on her first dealership, which backfired on the poor girl, being a useless ability in the East round it actually seemed to make her even worse. Maho hadn't remembered that girl's name, but it was likely they would have to watch out for her tomorrow if she could make it through the first day of east rounds even despite her ability being useless like that.

The train ride back home did not turn out to be too awkward, and they made their goodbyes at the usual place. Nodoka really enjoyed the day, coming in at fourth place overall with some solid play. _I need to do better tomorrow, fourth is not good enough to qualify!_ The real test would definitely be the next day, and Nodoka was looking forward to the challenge. _I will keep my promise if I can help it._

**Second day. 2 pm**

The second day of the tournament was going extremely well. Hisa herself was 4th, Yuuki and Mako were within sight of the top 10, and Nodoka was threatening to pull out ahead of the competition with Kazekoshi's vanguard, who were comfortably second and first respectively. Maho and Kyoutarou were mainly cheering on Nodoka, not that she needed it the way she was going, and herself. Hisa looked up at the board that listed the next matches. She was in room D next and was up against the girl in first place._ Let's see if I can do Nodoka and myself a favour here. I'm sure I have seen that girl somewhere before, though._

Nodoka had a 30 minute break before her next match. She was finding it much easier than she expected, and she suspected it was mainly to do with the new format. The rules today favoured her more than yesterdays' had. The effect of chance and luck was radically reduced by extending the games to a full hanchan, and a certain tacos-loving player was not nearly as threatening anymore.

_I wonder how Miyanaga-san is doing. There's no doubt she and her sister will make it. They never lose._ She was headed towards the cafeteria as she was feeling thirsty during her last match. She was in the cafeteria queue when her phone began to ring. She looked at the caller ID. _Miyanaga. _Her stomach immediately felt fluttery as she left the queue to find a quiet corner to answer it.

"Miyanaga-san!" Nodoka answered, elated.

"No. Well yes, but not Saki." The voice was calm and almost emotionless. Nodoka couldn't help but feel slightly and somewhat rudely disappointed.

"Sorry about that. How may I help you Miyanaga Teru-san?" She inquired calmly.

"I would like you to try and help Saki. I am quite worried about her and I don't understand how to get through to her." The older Miyanaga didn't sound particularly worried, but it was often hard to tell with her.

"Of course I would like to help Miyanaga-san with anything I can, but I don't understand how I can do that from here or when I don't know what the problem is."

"She isn't going to qualify for the individuals as it stands. She is 24th out of 50 right now. There are only 8 hanchan left" Teru stated in perhaps the same tone a normal person would when reading a shopping list.

"Sorry, excuse me?" Nodoka could not believe that. _How on earth could Miyanaga-san rank only 24th out of 50?_ _There is no way competition is that high in…_ well anywhere now that Nodoka thought about it. "How is that even possible? Is she feeling sick or something?"

"I told you about it when you were in Tokyo. She's playing to land on +/- 0. It will be easier if I just send you the picture I took yesterday." Nodoka was incredulous to say the least. _There is no way anyone can play to land on +/- 0, not even Miyanaga-san_. She opened the picture that the girl sent her. Twenty results. Twenty +/- 0s. _Twenty._ _That's insane… there's no way…_

"This is… this is impossible." Nodoka couldn't think of anything else to say.

"It's not. You've seen her play. Anyway I don't have time to convince you of its validity. Can I put her on? If I or Awai can find her before her next game that is."

Nodoka didn't understand_. It is impossible to play like that, and even if you assume it is somehow possible, there's still the question of why would you even want to? Miyanaga-san isn't the type of person who would do something so stupid and ridiculous just to show off. She is so good she doesn't even need to show off…_

"Why…. Why is she playing like that?"

"I don't know." Teru told her.

"Please find her. I need to speak to her." Nodoka was past caring if she was being rude or not. She needed to speak to Miyanaga Saki.

"Okay. I'm putting you on hold." Nodoka looked at the clock near her. _15 minutes until my next game._

Takei Hisa was having a hard time against the blonde girl who was Kazekoshi's captain. The girl evidently knew all about her bad waits, and was defending against them perfectly. She was currently behind, but she had a big comeback hand and had been in tenpai for 2 turns with a good wait on wan tiles. She drew a 9 wan. _If I discard the dora here… I keep my chinitsu and change my wait to a single hell wait. _

"Riichi" She declared, confident at last.

Nodoka made it to the room her next match was scheduled in with just over ten minutes before her game was due to begin, and picked a seat next to the entrance. She was currently waiting anxiously for Miyanaga Teru to find her sister and was finding it hard to sit still. She stared down at her phone with wonder. Whilst she did not approve of this playing style, it was still amazing and even intimidating. _I have to try it when I get home tonight._

"Nodoka are you there?" She heard the phone say in Miyanaga Teru's voice. She scrambled to put the phone back to her ear.

"Hello again, did you find her?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm putting her on." She listened to the sounds of the passing of the phone.

"Haramura-san?" Miyanaga Saki's sweet voice was unmistakeable. Nodoka caught herself; _I don't have time to get gushy now. I need to talk some sense into her! _

"Miyanaga-san! Explain to me why you are trying to break our promise!" she demanded. She decided she hated being angry at this girl, but she had been left no choice.

"Promise…? Erm but, erm I didn't. But Haramura-san, we are already going to meet each other at the nationals, in the team tournament." Nodoka had never heard her flounder like this. The girl sounded genuinely confused.

"Didn't we promise that we would do everything we could to meet at the nationals?" Nodoka asked her. "Didn't we promise that?" _I even looked up how much extra time we would have together if we both made it to both tournaments… I have to make her see it._ Nodoka couldn't help but feel slightly hurt that the girl wasn't motivated in at least that way, but shrugged it off in the end of her just being overly-zealous about their friendship.

"We did… but… you see… I am a first year; I will have lots of chances to go to the individuals… For me there's always next year, see? Our sergeant, Hirose-senpai, erm Hirose Sumire-senpai she is really determined to get there and it's her last chance so erm… Because she's a third year, you see?"

"Miyanaga-san, do you think she would want to get there only because you decided you weren't going to try your hardest? Do you think it's fair that she would have to play under the pressure of knowing full well that she only qualified because her junior deliberately let her win?" Nodoka couldn't let herself be weak now. She needed to stop Miyanaga Saki from doing this to herself and her senpai. "I am sure your senpai wants to go to the nationals by beating her opponents when they are giving it everything they have! Your sister is upset about this as well, Miyanaga-san."

"That's right… isn't it?" she hesitated. Then continued, clearer, "I'm sorry, Haramura-san!"

"Miyanaga-san…"

"I understand now… I thought since I could already go to nationals and play against you that it would be nice if other people could win afterwards... but that's wrong, isn't it? Thank you for making me understand, Haramura-san. I've caused a lot of trouble for you all… haven't I?"

"As long as you understand… it's full power from now on, right?" Nodoka found herself admiring the girl and her reaction. She hadn't been irrationally stubborn, and her mistake had been made out of kindness. Miyanaga Saki had followed her heart, but her heart had been wrong, and she had accepted that she had been wrong without hesitation. Nodoka would never have had the strength to do such a thing.

"Of course, I'll do my best from now on!" Miyanaga Saki responded cheerfully. Nodoka looked up at the clock. _I'm late for my match!_

"Make sure you make it to your match on time, okay? My match is about to start so I have to run. Good luck Miyanaga-san!"

"Yes, you too Haramura-san!"

Nodoka closed her phone and made her way into the match room.

Teru was feeling slightly envious of Haramura Nodoka as she watched Saki talk to her on the phone. She couldn't help but compare the way her sister talked to her friend in Nagano to the way she talked to her and Awai. In the past, Saki had usually suffered her problems alone, even when prompted to talk about them, and Teru was terrible at that kind of thing anyway. It was the same when she was struggling with being called a monster; when Teru had finally tried to talk to her about it she clammed up instantly.

Saki seemed far more willing to talk to Nodoka about that kind of thing, and Teru didn't have a clue as to why. She didn't mind too much however, and was happy that Saki might have found someone she could finally talk to about that kind of thing like she clearly needed to sometimes. She couldn't fault the girl in Nagano either; she seemed to have convinced Saki to play properly at the least and with any luck Teru would get to play against her.

Teru had fun trying to break Saki's +/- 0, which she had only managed a single time, but she far preferred it when her sister played to win. Teru also didn't think it was possible at all to break her +/- 0 without having multiple players deliberately losing hands, as she had done with Awai to finally break it that one time. If everyone played to score as many points as they could, Saki would always land on +/- 0 if she wanted to as far as Teru knew, so she would possibly have to aim to lose to have a fun match against her sister and that meant that someone else could place first in a match with both her and her sister present. Teru was not sure she was prepared to let that happen and thanks to the pink-haired girl in Nagano that was no longer an issue.

Whilst they played against each other a lot in practise, it was different in their competitive games, and Teru wanted to see who would win now that her sister had broken out of her uncaring spell. Teru had not lost to her yet in competitive matches at all, and she nearly always won during their uncompetitive games as well, but Saki even lost to completely normal Shiraitodai substitutes when the result didn't matter. It wasn't that Saki didn't care about winning; she just had it in her head that other people needed to win to have fun, and often made sure she didn't come in first place by deliberately going for +/- 0.

Teru had never reprimanded her for it, although she had been sorely tempted several times in her life as well as the current situation. The reason for her hesitation was that Teru was largely responsible for the girl developing the ability in the first place. When they were children, their games of mahjong were preceded by eager anticipation, and they enjoyed playing together as a family. Teru distinctly recalled that she and her sister were extremely evenly matched. Their Mother was decent as well, although their Father might have never won a single hanchan as far as Teru could recall.

When Teru started school, she attended a small mahjong club without her sister, who was still too young to go. Teru never lost to a single person at that club, not the older children or even the coach who ran it. The experience had given her a very large ego in her youthful ignorance. When the time came for playing against her sister again she remembered being sure she would win every time. She didn't win every time, and would become extremely angry every time she didn't. Saki began to deliberately lose after that, and it was so obvious even Teru wasn't ignorant enough to fail to notice.

Her parents didn't help either, instead of telling Teru off properly for her attitude in the first place, they allowed their own rift to make the atmosphere at the games even worse. They then took it out on Saki when she would deliberately lose to the point where she would lose her allowance or even her Christmas money when she lost, even when it wasn't deliberate. The combination of the two resulted in the +/- 0 play style.

It was actually Oohoshi Awai who snapped Saki out of her first spell of hating mahjong. When she first played against Saki she had not sat there with a stoic face on, seriously giving it her all as though losing would be the end of the world. Instead she joked and talked to everyone naturally, lightly mocking people who played into her hands and play-acting despair when she herself played into other people.

Awai's antics really lightened the atmosphere at the table. Teru herself could appreciate that, and Saki certainly did, eventually coming to realise that mahjong was still fun. Awai had almost ruined it all of course when she terrified Saki half to death with the revelation of her double riichi ability later on, but Teru would always be grateful to Awai for her role in helping Saki get over Teru and her family's stupidity.

Thanks to Haramura Nodoka, the second person to break Saki out of a spell of hating mahjong, Saki would not be playing for +/- 0 anymore. It meant that Saki would play to win and, given that Teru was lucky enough to draw her, it would be their first competitive game together since she had started taking mahjong more seriously. It was not wholly ideal as Saki only really went full-power in team matches, but Teru was still more excited about even just a potential match than she had been in a long while. Teru didn't even consider the idea of letting Saki win to ensure she qualified, as it would be a waste of time. With this many hanchan left her sister would qualify without any outside help from her or anyone else.

Hisa let out a sigh of relief when she won the final hand for a comeback victory against the Kazekoshi vanguard. She was certain now that she had met the girl before. _I'd never forget those pretty eyes._ She had looked into those eyes and asked her if she remembered that they had played against each other before. That had led to an enjoyable conversation and Hisa was glad she remembered it as well. She still had to invite this girls' school to their training camp, but Hisa decided it would be better to do so after the individuals were over. _It's a shame that that girl told the princess about it, really._ Hisa had been hoping to surprise Nodoka with Miyanaga Saki herself at the training camp. She was sure that would have been hilarious to watch.

She was not finished yet though, and she had just made it into 3rd place with that win, just ahead of the girl from yesterday who had ended Maho's chances at qualifying. Yuuki was the one who had promised revenge to the girl, but Hisa was glad she had the chance now to give it to her. Yuuki had already lost against her and apparently this Nanpo-san was basically her polar opposite. She was excellent in the South round and weak in the East. Yuuki started by generating a big lead but then had been utterly destroyed in the south round. Hisa picked herself up and headed towards her next game.

Nodoka found a small, unoccupied television and began flicking through the channels. It was approximately an hour after she had talked to Miyanaga Saki on the phone. Nodoka would have preferred to call her again but she had no way of knowing when the girl would be in a match, and because she didn't own a phone she'd need to call at a time when neither of the Miyanagas were playing. She found the mahjong channel she was looking for. They were reporting on a different prefecture at the moment, and she only had 10 minutes before her next match. Nodoka sighed loudly. _It wasn't supposed to be like this, Miyanaga-san… _

Miyanaga Teru was just taken down as dealer, but she was already 45,000 points ahead of second place, and she had a second dealership in the south round. She would definitely bust someone again this game. Teru found she barely had to think during matches like these and instead she wondered about her teammates. Her sister had started really picking up the pace, but she had not yet reached 3rd position and there were only 4 hanchan left.

Oohoshi Awai was in second position behind Teru, which Teru was thankful for. She wouldn't be tempted to use double-riichi at this rate. Teru had no illusions on that score; if Awai was at risk of not qualifying she wouldn't hesitate to use it, regardless of what anyone had said to her. She was using her delay ability, but that kind of thing was impossible to plan for anyway. Double riichi on the other hand had mental, overwhelming properties that could easily turn games into a landslide which meant it would be more effective as a surprise.

Hirose Sumire was currently just ahead of Saki, ranking fourth overall whilst Takami was a long way off qualifying in 16th. She was not allowed to use her ability so the position was very respectable and she was almost beating Seiko who was not holding back at all with her fishing-style pon-palace style ability, who was ranked 14th. There were a few other Shiraitodai players dotted around but none of them were beating a regular member, although Takami was cutting it close with a substitute in 20th. Teru was relieved about that; she didn't want any of their players to be feeling that kind of pressure going into the national team tournament.

Nodoka was not lucky enough to see Saki during the 10 minute break between games, and was now up against the 4th positioned Kazue Nanpo. Kazekoshi's captain had retaken first whilst Nodoka was not playing, but she had played an extra game so Nodoka could still overtake her for the overall lead. The game was in progress but it had been surprisingly easy so far. The girl was supposed to be 4th place on the overall leader board but she hadn't won a single hand and was at a measly 11,400 points and was in last place, with Nodoka comfortably leading with 42,800 points. _With this I will take back the lead, and ensure the president qualifies as well!_

Hisa only managed second in her latest game, and was currently watching Nodoka play against Kazue Nanpo with Maho, Yuuki and Kyoutarou. Hisa and Yuuki were scheduled to play against each other in 20 minutes and Nodoka currently held a commanding lead over Kazue-Nanpo. That didn't mean much though; that girl seemed to just play to survive in the east round when she played against threatening players like Nodoka, but it was a different story in the south. Hisa didn't know how Nodoka would do against her at all.

Nanpo seemed to be exactly like Yuuki at first glance, but her south round was different to Yuuki's east. If Hisa had to quantify the difference she would say Yuuki's power was completely inward; she powered herself up to score big, expensive hands. Nanpo on the other hand seemed to slow everyone elses hand down, whilst also powering her own hands up. It seemed to be similar in nature to Amae Koromo's control.

Hisa didn't think Nanpo's south round hands were as fast or expensive as Yuuki's East round hands, but because of the control it was scarier overall. Her control did not compare with Amae Koromo's either however, and Nodoka had shrugged that off almost contemptuously. It depended on whether or not Nodoka's ability to ignore control abilities was one-off or only worked against particular types of it. Hisa anxiously awaited the south round, which she thought would be interesting and important to Kiyosumi's chances at taking the nationals.

Saki was up against Rentarou Mariko, the girl who had played Teru in the team tournament. Teru said that she was a talented player and Saki saw that she was right. Saki was the only player at the table who had not yet won a hand so far. _I can usually see the tiles better than this._ The other two players at the table had followed Rentarou's example and were constantly calling for sequence melds or going for pinfu hands_. They are trying to seal my kan, but that's not the only strange thing happening..._ The tactic had been used on Saki before, and she could usually deal with it well enough but there was something different about this Rentarou girl. The tiles seemed to respond to her play style. _This won't do at all. I can't let Haramura-san down now._

Rentarou Mariko was extremely pleased with how the game was going. It was still the East round but Miyanaga Saki had not won a hand yet; a fantastic triumph as far as Mariko was concerned. Miyanaga Saki had destroyed the other tables she had been at, and was ridiculous in the captain's round of the team tournament. Her friend had been helpless as the girl up against her now sank the team in fourth, but she was sure she could do this. She was the ace after all; it was her job to banish these demons.

She was currently in 3rd place on the league table overall narrowly beating Shiraitodai's Hirose Sumire to the punch, and was first place with a slight lead in the current match. Miyanaga Saki had been surprisingly absent from even the top ten in the day but she was taking giant strides up the ladder right now and Mariko did not think that she could realistically compete with the girls current point gain capabilities as she was currently going, so she had to defeat her here to take the final qualifying spot.

Teru was watching the match with interest. It was not a coincidence that the girl was giving Saki problems. She had seen it with her Shoumakyou. The girl playing her sister possessed a peculiar ability where she would play for either sets or sequences each hand, and those tiles would be drawn to her depending on which she picked. She had even landed a suuankou on the previous day, although she was going for sequences against Saki. Teru had deliberately not told Saki about her ability because she thought it would be more fun for Saki if she figured it out herself, and Teru had confidence that Saki could overcome it. Teru studied her sister. It seemed that the time had come.

"Pon" Miyanaga called, as the girl to Mariko's left discarded a chun on the first turn. Mariko discarded a south wind tile. _My hand is looking great! Iishanten before the second turn!_

"Pon" Miyanaga called again. _My wind tile! 2 calls already? How do I stop her?_

"Kan" Miyanaga added her new Chun tile to her set._ There is so much pressure all of a sudden… This girl is terrifying! _"Tsumo. Rinshan kaihou and a Yakuhai. 1300/2600 please." Mariko lowered her head in concentration_. She beat me even though I had that starting hand? _Mariko shook her head from side to side._ It's not over yet! I can still win this._

Winning hand- 1W 1W 2W 3W 6S 7S 8S [Nan Nan Nan] [Chun Chun Chun Chun] (4W)

Dora indicators – 2P, 1S

Yaku: Yakuhai, Rinshan Kaihou

"Kan" Miyanaga called, revealing her concealed quads. Mariko looked up at the monster, worried. "Tsumo. Rinshan Kaihou toitoi sanankou. 3000 6000 please." Mariko groaned. Not discarding shonpai didn't work as a strategy if she just build her kans inside her own hand, but this was strange. Mariko usually had better control than this, and even in the last hand she had called tiles on the first few turns where it was impossible to avoid discarding shonpai. _I need to score a big hand to come back now… but first I just need to stop her._

Winning hand- 1P 1P 1P 7S 7S 8S 8S 9S 9S 9S {Xia Xia Xia Xia} (7S)

Dora Indicator(s): 4P, 8P

Yaku: Tsumo, Toitoi, Sanankou, Rinshan Kaihou

"Kan." _Again?!_ But fortunately she just discarded. _What, no Rinshan kaihou?_ It was the 8th turn, and Mariko didn't know what to do. She was miles behind in second and she could not compete with Miyanaga Saki anymore. Her first win seemed to significantly weaken her control, and it was now almost as weak as it had been when she first realised she had the ability. Miyanaga Saki was completing her hands far too quickly for her to cope when she called kan, and the kans were too hard to play against given how expensive and versatile this girl made them.

It was well known that the demon never received dora from her own kans, but the free yaku that rinshan kaihou seemed to be for her and all the fu she received from the kans often meant she only needed two normal han for a mangan, and neither of those even needed to be a yaku. This meant this girl could rush to small yaku-less hands and score them for mangans if she had a few dora. It was just unbelievable. _I just have to keep my spot in second and I'll still be ahead of Miyanaga Saki on the league table, at least for a little while. It's the last hand and I'm not the dealer… so if I just defend well I will come out ahead of the other two players at least…_

"Tsumo" the girl to her left said. "2000 4000 please_!" Her?! I've dropped down to third! _She looked over at Miyanaga-Saki_. That win was a lot more expensive because of that kan… She couldn't have… She can't have… can she..? She really must have done that deliberately… I'm not going to qualify… _She felt the tears in her eyes. _Why do I have to be in this prefecture…?_

Winning hand- 7W 7W 8W 8W 9W 9W 2S 2S 6S 7S 8S South South South

Dora indicator(s) 2P, 1S

Yaku: Tsumo, Iipeikouu, yakuhai

Teru was surprised. She was not expecting her sister to feed points to an opponent in order to drag the Rentarou Mariko girl down into third. _Did she do that to ensure she doesn't let Haramura Nodoka down? _It didn't seem like something Saki would do. Teru shrugged. At least she was going to make it.

Hisa had no problem seeing the funny side of the match she was watching. The shock on Kazue Nanpo's face had been palpable as Nodoka had continued full steam ahead during the south round. _It must look like she is shrugging off her control like it's nothing from Nanpo's point of view._ The south round specialist had managed to get second place, but she remained out of reach of Nodoka who ended up finishing the match on over 50,000 points, three-downing her opponents. Hisa supposed she owed Nodoka one for this; her failure to take first place in her last match had been wiped away. In fact she had gained even more points on her rival in 4th place, and with only one hanchan left she had everything to play for.

Nodoka was finished for the day, and was currently in first place although Kazekoshi's vanguard could reclaim that position if she won by a sufficient amount in her final game. Nodoka found that she didn't much mind. First place would be nice, but she kept her promise either way. No one but Fukuji Mihoko could reach her now. That was what really mattered. Now she needed to find a television to see how Miyanaga Saki was faring after her call.

Haramura Nodoka received a big surprise when she reached the lobby. She first noticed that the lobby was packed full of people. _That's strange, there are still matches being played._ Nodoka soon found out why when she realised what was happening. It turned out that Nodoka was not only lucky enough for the mahjong channel to be covering what was happening in the West Tokyo prefecture, but they were actually showing a match in which Miyanaga Saki was participating. Nodoka knew why when she realised who else was playing. Miyanaga Saki was playing against her sister.

**East round 1, Shinobu dealership-**

As Teru had come to expect from their games, her sister won the first hand with a big Rinshan Kaihou for 3000 6000. _She's so careless in the first round with her open kans._ Teru could and had caught her in the past with chankan, but her sister had gotten much better at defending against that against her. Luckily Teru was not the first dealer, so had avoided wasting her dealership whilst she was using her Shoumakyou. Her dealership was up next though; this would be a key point in the game. Busting someone else on one of her dealer streaks was the easiest way to defeat Saki.

Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 5W 7W 7W 7W {8W 8W 8W 8W} [3W 3W 3W 3W] (6W)

Dora Indicator(s): 4W, 9S

Yaku: Chinitsu, Rinshan Kaihou

**East round 2, Saki dealership-**

"Ron. 1600" She called on a discard from the player who had been dealer when Saki won in the first round. Her name was apparently Shinobu. It was the norm for Teru to attack the person Saki hit hardest with her win in the opening hand in nearly all of their games, although there were exceptions like when Saki didn't win the first hand or when the first dealer was a very strong defensive player compared to the non-dealer. She also had to reassess what to do when Saki or Teru were the dealer themselves.

Unfortunately Saki knew just how Teru's strategy went so would be more likely to feed that girl points if anyone. Saki rarely won with a direct hit in the first round because of the meta-game that developed between them, which usually just gave Teru a good target to go after. Only directly hitting Saki was a better idea than hitting the person in last, but that was much harder.

Winning hand- 9W 9W 9W 2S 3S 5S 6S 7S Nan Nan [Haku Haku Haku] (4S)

Dora Indicator(s): 2P

Yaku: Yakuhai

Nodoka was watching in awe. You could hardly say the game was between more than the two sisters based on what had happened so far. Only the Miyanaga sisters were winning hands at all, aside for one time when Miyanaga Saki appeared to deliberately play into one of the other girl's hands to stop Miyanaga Teru's dealer win streak. It was the south round and Miyanaga Teru was dealing for the second time. She was in first place sitting at 43,600 points.

Saki was second with 32,100 points, a girl called Chiharu was third place with 14,200 points and in last was a girl called Shinobu with 10,100 points. The commentators were already frantically praising Saki for possibly being one of the only players to remain at a positive score against Miyanaga Teru for an entire hanchan, and she seemed to know just what tiles Shinobu needed.

For three turns in a row Shinobu called Miyanaga Saki's discards- Miyanaga Teru didn't even get a chance to play before Saki played into her hand for 1800 points. One of the tiles she dealt into Shinobu's hand was a tile from the dead wall after making a kan. The tile had completed one of Saki's sequences sets yet she discarded it anyway. Nodoka couldn't believe what she was watching. The commentators went wild when the hand was over.

Winning hand – 1W 2W 3W 4W [6S 6S 6S] [9S 9S 9S] [Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu] (1W)

Dora Indicator(s): Pei, 2S

Yaku: Yakuhai

**Fukuyo Kouko: "AND SHINOBU HAS DONE IT! Have you ever seen this before, Kokaji-pro?! Miyanaga Teru's dealership was ended before she even won a single dealer repeat!"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "That really was amazing, but the real winner of that round was Miyanaga Teru's sister, Miyanaga Saki. She consistently picked out the tiles Shinobu needed and completely bypassed her sister's turn for a long time to force the win. The Miyanaga sisters are not letting us down here, both of them really want this win and they are treating us to some world class mahjong."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Will we finally see someone take a positive score against the champion?!"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "There's actually a chance the younger Miyanaga could take this… I have never seen Miyanaga Teru in so much trouble as she is here."**

Nodoka enjoyed listening to the grandmaster praise Miyanaga Saki, even though her hand had been an absolute mess by the time she played into the girl named Shinobu's hand. In the following hand she was directly hit again, and this time it was not deliberately, as far as Nodoka could tell anyway. Miyanaga Teru had hit her on her dealership but at least it was just a small win. Despite that Nodoka couldn't help but be excited about the final hand; Miyanaga Saki was about 16000 points behind but Nodoka thought she saw her smiling.

The mahjong programme that was covering the event had a league table on the right of the screen, and Nodoka was happy to see Miyanaga Saki was currently placed third overall for the prefecture, just behind Oohoshi Awai. _Miyanaga-san is going to make it! _Nodoka watched as she drew the fourth xia tile. Nodoka felt butterflies in her stomach. She knew what was coming now.

"Kan" she called, revealing her quads. She drew another tile. _The fourth 7 pin._ Nodoka unconsciously sucked in her breath. "One more time, Kan!" She made her practised movements to turn over the new dora indicator, draw a tile from the dead wall and discard a tile. Nodoka couldn't help but feel disappointed with the lack of a rinshan kaihou, at which she harshly chastised herself for expecting such a rare Yaku in the first place.

The pressure Teru felt when playing against her sister wasn't usually this strong, at least when she wasn't playing solely for +/- 0. Such pressure had long stopped bothering Teru, but it was still important to acknowledge because it was useful information. Teru was extremely impressed so far; Saki actually seemed to be incorporating her +/- 0 play into her strategy against Teru this time. Whilst this was not completely new for Saki as she often spent her time observing opponents whilst safely playing for +/- 0, it was a strategy that Teru had not played against before.

Ending Teru's win streaks as early as Saki had just managed was not something normal players could do. Teru was not being arrogant, it was simply true. Saki could not break it so early either normally, but her +/- 0 was as hard if not harder to break for Teru. When Saki played into Shinobu's hand to end her own dealership, she had done so to land on 30,300 points, or +/- 0. In Teru's opinion it was the type of move that made mahjong worth playing even without all of the awards she received. Teru discarded a tile that she knew the girl named Shinobu wanted.

"Chi" the girl called and discarded. Her sisters' turn had come again. It would only take two more turns before either Teru or Shinobu could win and end this match, regardless of calls. She knew that by instinct and her experience both. She didn't know if Shinobu would take the win or not if that's what it came to, but she expected her to. That type of thing was one of the few her Shoumakyou did not tell her, but most players wanted to get out of matches against her as soon as possible, and she expected that was probably doubly true in this scenario with her sister there as well.

Saki drew a new tile as Teru looked on but then simply discarded it. After losing her dealership so quickly Teru was expecting to lose the match, but Saki seemed to have run out of steam but that opinion changed asTeru drew her tile; it was the first 1-pin she had seen so far and worse than that it was not the tile she was expecting which meant that her sister had pulled the wool over her eyes this time. It was a shonpai and at such a late stage in the knew there was no way drawing that tile was an accident, and there was no way Teru was discarding it._ I have to bail then and feed Shinobu the win. _

Teru hesitated. No one, apart from Saki, Awai and a few other players all from Shiraitodai knew that she could bail on her win streaks, and she had encouraged Awai to not use her double riichi ability during the individual tournament for the benefit of their team. Teru was also so completely safe that there was no way she would fail to qualify from this position, or even possibly drop to second._ I have to discard the shonpai. _Teru looked mournfully at her sister. _I hope that forcing me to play into your hand like this wasn't deliberate, Saki._

Nodoka watched on as Miyanaga Saki became the first player to beat Miyanaga Teru in a competitive match and she had done it live on television with another rinshan kaihou direct hit which reminded her of her own loss to the girl. The commentators went wild, and the crowd that was watching the match were in awe, buzzing with intense comments of their own. Best of all, the win caused Miyanaga Saki to move into second place. Nodoka looked over at her own prefecture's table where she had been leapfrogged by Fukuji Mihoko of Kazekoshi. _I guess we match. Miyanaga-san…_

Nodoka spent the next five minutes daydreaming about meeting the girl again and about the match she had just watched where she was sitting, relaxed whenshe suddenly jolted upright_. What's wrong with me? I'm not usually this selfish. The day's games are over by now- I need to check how the rest of my team has done. _She leapt up and quickly found a monitor with a league table. Third place: Takei Hisa of Kiyosumi High school. _As expected of the President, she's so reliable. _Yuuki on the other hand was placed ninth, one spot in front of Mako. _She will never hear the end of that._


	9. Chapter 9 - Falling

**Chapter 9 - Falling**

* * *

Teru, Saki and Awai all qualified for the individual tournament in the end. This wasn't actually much of a surprise at all. On the contrary, Teru would have been surprised if even a single one of them didn't make it. They were the favourites for good reason, and Awai had been lucky enough to avoid facing both her and her sister. This didn't prevent the Media from getting back on board the Shiraitodai hype train, which wasn't a bad thing for their team but it was Teru's opinion that it did get obnoxious sometimes.

Teru felt bad for Saki in particular. She didn't realise how much grief losing that game to her sister would cause: the media hounded her relentlessly. Saki being Saki could not say no and had given what must have been dozens of interviews. As much as she loved her sister Teru could not pretend that she was good in front of a camera. She stuttered, she blushed and she very nearly tripped over in one interview. Teru tried and did put an end to over-zealous reporters when she could but there were more around every corner, and she needed to keep up appearances as well as her sister. Getting to the team bus had become a welcome relief after these events.

Nodoka had her own problems with the media, and the problem had gotten much worse after her victory against Amae Koromo at the team tournament. The media seemed to love making her say the same lines over and over, as though there were some new hidden meaning in the words every time she repeated them. She was prepared to endure it though. Soon she would be on her way to the training camp with her club.

It was fair to say that Nodoka was so excited she could barely even think for perhaps the first time in her life. She wouldn't have admitted this to Miyanaga Saki (or anyone else for that matter), but she was secretly happy the girl had been coaxed into so many interviews. Nodoka eagerly recorded and watched all the interviews she could find of the poor girl. _She's so cute when they are interviewing her... She doesn't know what to say and stutters adorably._

In one of them the girl stumbled and nearly fell over at one point, and Nodoka had only barely managed to stop herself from hitting the rewind button to watch it again. She had somewhat absurdly felt envious of the woman who was interviewing her when that had happened, who had caught the girl to help her steady herself.

It actually occurred to Nodoka that she might have an interest in Miyanaga Saki that went beyond simple friendship, but she rejected the idea after giving it a bit of thought. Nodoka was fully aware that she was likely attracted to females, and not males. She was not one hundred per cent certain, but she felt she could be reasonably sure. Whilst she was still in her final year of middle school she had given the idea some real thought, and had quickly realised that she had never had even the slightest interest in a male of any kind or stature. No pop or movie stars had ever struck her fancy, and she couldn't remember ever having a school crush or a desire for a boyfriend.

She had been confessed to a few times during middle school and several more times at high school, but she politely declined every one of them, and would do so in the future too. Some of those boys had actually irritated Nodoka with their so-called confessions; at least one or two of them had never even spoken to her previously. Nodoka had not as yet been confessed to by a girl, or indeed had a girl she thought she would ever have reason to confess to, but the prospect was far more exciting and she was more interested in the idea of being married to Yuuki or even Maho than to any male she had ever met or known. Nothing had changed about any of those things.

When it came to Miyanaga Saki, Nodoka realised that she liked the girl more than she ought to given the small amount of time they had so far spent together, and perhaps even as much as she liked Yuuki and Maho. Despite that, she decided that she wasn't romantically interested in the girl. She had only spent four days with her after all, and the distance between them made any such wishes nothing more than an idle fancy. Additionally, it was too greater risk to their friendship to be seriously pursued regardless of any other factor.

The day they were due to travel to the training camp was truly beautiful – the sky was blue and the birds were singing, so it was slightly depressing for Nodoka that they would have to spend over an hour of it on a stuffy coach. The depression could not hold a candle to the excitement however, and Nodoka found she could barely stay still and was nearly shaking throughout the day. Nodoka took a window seat at the back of the bus and ended up sitting next to Maho and Yuuki, whilst Mako and Hisa took the compartment directly in front.

Nodoka's stomach fluttered with butterflies from the beginning of the trip up until the end of it, but they were not uncomfortable. Nodoka enjoyed the excitement caused by the anticipation of seeing the girl again, and she certainly preferred the intoxication of her own emotions that she was feeling to the… Nodoka would not quite call it loneliness, not with Yuuki and Maho always so near and so welcoming, but there was something she was missing, and she knew now that she had truly missed whatever it was in the months without the girl.

If all of that wasn't enough, Nodoka was nervous about other, more irrational ideas as well. The girl had cared enough to call her and talk to her on the phone for hours and had supported her during her match with Amae Koromo, and those things should have told Nodoka that the girl would at least be slightly happy to see her, but what should logically occur isn't always what does occur, Miyanaga Saki had proven that herself. Nodoka was nervous, and she was scared, and those emotions just added to the cauldron that was boiling inside of her.

The bus ride was a long one, and it was made all the longer by her rampaging emotions and her nervousness. She gave up on sleeping and instead stared out of the window, trying to think of other things. It was slightly fortunate that Maho and Yuuki argued about nonsensical things for the entire trip. From which of the two of them had the cutest pyjamas to how many rooms the training camp building would have, they seemed to be able to argue about anything, and Nodoka found listening to it somehow soothing.

Kyoutarou was not with them, much to his disappointment. Unfortunately it likely would just have been awkward as the only male at the camp, and he had nothing to offer mahjong-wise in the somewhat harsh reality of the situation. Nodoka didn't like being so judgemental, but he was not even able to compete with other male students, never mind the female high school students that would be at their camp. The idea of Kyoutarou Suga playing against Miyanaga Teru or Miyanaga Saki was almost preposterous.

Nodoka was awoken from her stupor that was not quite sleep when the bus came to a halt. They had arrived at the training camp. _Miyanaga-san!_ She turned to the window but she was nowhere to be seen. Ryuumonbuchi were there to greet them however and the tiny girl with the enormous red ear bunny headband was instantly recognisable and particularly conspicuous.

"Nonoka!" She yelled excitedly. "We are going to play against each other again!" She surprisingly leapt into Nodoka's arms for a hug. _Well at least someone is excited to see me._ Nodoka couldn't help but feel disappointed that Miyanaga Saki wasn't there to greet her.

"Yes, of course. Let's go inside Amae-san."

"Call me Koromo, Nonoka!" she replied easily.

"Hmm... Okay, Koromo-chan."

"It's not chan! I'm older than you!"

"Sorry, Koromo-san. My mistake."

Nodoka felt a pang of guilt as she stepped into the hall with Amae Koromo and her team. Shiraitodai evidently had not arrived yet, so of course Miyanaga Saki was not there to greet her. _Why am I always such an idiot when it comes to that girl?_ _There's almost no way Shiraitodai could have made it here before us. They live way out in West Tokyo. _Tsuruga, upon hearing them in the hall came down to meet them from their room, and Kazekoshi, who had apparently accepted the invitation in the end, were with them as well.

Nodoka quickly found herself paralyzed in the anticipation of seeing her friend again, and was hopeless on the mahjong table, making the obvious kind of mistake she had thought she had seen the last of once she started holding Etopen whilst she played. Much to Amae Koromo's disappointment, she excused herself after a single hanchan, unable to concentrate, and found herself a seat that had a conveniently located window nearby. She quickly made sure the window overlooked the main entrance where the Shiraitodai team would arrive and sat down, hugging Etopen to her chest, barely even noticing when the president brought her an iced tea.

The Shiraitodai team did not arrive until 8pm that night, but Nodoka saw them immediately as they drove in. Most of the players including Fujita-pro went out to see the champion schools' arrival. They had been driven in by a van labelled taxi after the girls travelled to Nagano via train. Oohoshi Awai was the first player to step out of the car with Matano Seiko coming out next along with Takami Shibuya and Hirose Sumire.

The crowd that had gathered watched them as though they were from another planet, strangely quiet, although several people chatted happily away including Yuuki and Maho. Miyanaga-Teru eventually got out after a long pause; she evidently was having a hard time waking her sister up. After what seemed like an eternity the youngest Miyanaga finally made her way out of the car. '_Miyanaga-san looks exhausted'_ was Nodoka's first thought upon seeing her.

"Miyanaga-san!" she called out too loudly, unable to help herself. The brown haired wonder looked up at that and her garnet-red eyes scanned the crowd before quickly finding Nodoka. Her face lit up into such a beautiful smile that Nodoka's heart skipped a beat.

"Haramura-san!" she called right back. She broke her sister's grasp and flew into Nodoka's outstretched arms. The moment was wonderful. She had truly missed the girl and was so thankful that they would be able to spend some time together at this camp. By the time Nodoka realised they were hugging each other a bit too tightly they were already getting confused looks, and Miyanaga Teru was observing them with a neutral expression. Nodoka gently broke off the embrace, much as she didn't want to.

Nodoka took her friend's hand into her own. "Miyanaga-san, you must be exhausted. Let me show you to your room so you can get a good night's sleep, okay?"

Miyanaga Saki simply nodded at that, and let Nodoka lead her by the hand. Nodoka noted how delicately and softly the girl's hand held her own. _It's like she's scared of hurting me. But it makes me feel so confident and safe, despite the lightness of it._ Nodoka knew she was blushing but that was not important right now. She turned to make her way back to the main building.

"Haramura Nodoka" the older Miyanaga called out behind her. Nodoka stopped and turned around to face her. "Can you take her bag for her?" She asked calmly.

"Yes, of course Miyanaga Teru-san."

After receiving the surprisingly light bag from her sister, Nodoka led the cute girl up to Shiraitodai's room. "Here it is Miyanaga-san. It seems the futons have been laid out for you but I don't see a pillow. Stay here whilst I go and find you one." She placed Miyanaga Saki's bag down next to her futon and turned for the exit.

"You won't be sleeping in here?" She asked as Nodoka made it to the door.

She turned around and shook her head apologetically. "I'm afraid not, the Kiyosumi sleeping room is just across the hall though, so I will be close by."

Miyanaga Saki seemed disappointed. "Okay" she responded simply, and started undressing right there and then. She just suddenly began lifting her Shiraitodai uniform over her head. Nodoka averted her eyes, slightly violently.

"Miyanaga-san! You are a girl, please be a bit more modest!" She said sharply, unable to calm herself down.

Miyanaga Saki laughed lightly, scratching her head at that. "Okay, Haramura-san!" she responded in a carefree tone, as though it weren't a big deal in the slightest.

After 10 minutes of searching, she finally found a suitable pillow and was headed back to Shiraitodai's room. It was actually her own pillow but she could spend some time finding a different one later after she was finished attending to her friend. It was Miyanaga Saki who was exhausted, not Nodoka. She crept into Shiraitodai's room as lightly as she could. No one else was there yet, but Miyanaga Saki was dead to the world already.

Nodoka edged slowly towards her futon, and just looked down at the sleeping girl for a moment. She was lying on her back with her arms open pointing almost perfectly to each side, resulting in her sleeping body almost resembling a cross-shape. _She's just so cute when she's sleeping._ It seemed that Miyanaga Saki had had the composure and awareness in her exhaustion to open up her bag and take out a somewhat childish pyjama outfit to put on. It was pale and yellow with a large brown cartoon bear on the front that appeared to be rubbing its stomach content after what must have been a fine meal. Nodoka smiled at that.

As carefully and as quietly as she could, she knelt down next to Miyanaga Saki and gently supported her head with her right hand as she placed the pillow underneath with her left. As she held the girl's small head in her hand she noticed that her hair was surprisingly smooth and silky.

As she was making her way to get up Miyanaga Saki opened her eyes and found Nodoka. "Haramura-san, please stay" she said simply. Nodoka felt the blood rushing to her face. _This girl..._ She was about to protest when the girl reached out and caught her hand. "Please" she whispered, clearly struggling to stay awake. Nodoka realised she was going to accept the offer without much resistance after all, but was in no fit dress for sleeping and did not have Etopen with her either.

"Okay, Miyanaga-san" she conceded, "But please let me go and get my pyjamas and Etopen."

"Etopen?" Miyanaga Saki's voice was particularly thick with drowsiness as she repeated her toy penguins' name.

"Yes he's a friend. He's a character from a story I liked as a child. It's about a penguin who wants to become a…" She looked down at the girl and realised that she wasn't hearing a word Nodoka was saying, and seemed to be halfway between sleep and wakefulness. "I'll be right back" she whispered to her softly.

Once she was back she quickly changed and made her way under the covers with Miyanaga Saki. _She's so warm._ Nodoka noticed that the girl was watching her as she inched her way awkwardly under the covers. _I must have roused her from her sleep at some point_. Once Nodoka thought she was comfortable she quickly glanced into Miyanaga Saki's eyes before wrapping her hands around her and bringing her into a close, protective hug. The girl fell asleep immediately, obviously just exhausted.

Nodoka's own body refused to be so compliant. She found herself watching the girl, listening to her breathing and holding her carefully. She didn't know why this girl had taken such a liking to Nodoka or why she trusted her so much, but she was thankful for it all the same. She eventually fell into a deep sleep, and didn't notice a thing when the rest of the Shiraitodai team entered the room or their reactions to this arrangement.

Awai took out her phone to take a picture of the positions Haramura Nodoka and Saki were in, but Teru stopped her with a gesture._ If that picture somehow got into the press' hands, there could be real trouble._ Teru looked down at the sleeping duo. Their arms were interlocked in a close hug and her sisters' head was resting on Haramura Nodoka's vast bosom. _Yep, that picture would do wonders for Shiraitodai's reputation as a school to be feared._ Teru sighed heavily. Her sister hadn't wasted any time at all in getting re-acquainted with the girl.

Nodoka awoke first. She was lying on her back with her right arm outstretched out of the futon behind her, and her left arm was wrapped around something soft and warm. _That's right, it's Miyanaga-san_. Nodoka smiled to herself. Their first day together hadn't been a disappointment, and the girl had obviously been happy to see her, which just delighted Nodoka. She stretched and just relaxed for a few moments.

Understanding came to Nodoka all too quickly. Realizing the position they were in obliterated any of the relaxation she was feeling, such was the situation she had awoken to. Miyanaga-san's head was resting on her chest, and the girl's arm was loosely resting across her body, her hand hovering inches from her face. Nodoka's heart sped up; she was not going to be able to calm down in this situation. _What should I do? Wake her up? Try to move without waking her?_ A guilty part of her mind whispered that maybe she should stay right where she was, maybe pretend to be asleep and enjoy the closeness whilst she could.

As if in response to those vulgar thoughts a voice asked "Are you having fun?"

Nodoka opened her eyes. _Oohoshi Awai._ _How long has she been watching? _The girl was staring unabashedly into Nodoka's eyes. The dangerous looking eyes were full of amusement, and a smirk was on her lips. The girl was knelt over her, her face mere inches from her own. Nodoka realised she must be in quite a state.

"Erm no, no it's not erm…" Nodoka was not going to be able to get out of this.

"It's not what?" the cruel girl asked her knowingly.

Suddenly the girl resting on her let out a sigh and started moving around, presumably to get more comfortable. She murmured incomprehensibly in her sleep as she moved into a position such that her head was resting directly between Nodoka's breasts, and her hands were now extending underneath Nodoka's back, holding her in a way so that Nodoka couldn't move her torso at all. Nodoka could not cope with the sensations this caused at all. First it was the girl's head and face moving this way and that way across her chest, then the feeling of the girl's fingers slipping under her back that was almost as unnerving, and to make it worse Oohoshi Awai was very nearly outright giggling at her.

This seemed to disturb Saki, who stirred enough to let out a drowsy voice. "Uh… Haramura-san… let's go back to sleep..." She then fell silent again. It seemed that that was too much for the blonde girl that was plaguing Nodoka, who burst out laughing.

"Oh, it's Awai-chan." Miyanaga Saki murmured. She lifted her head up, and finally noticed that Nodoka was absolutely scarlet and was trying her hardest to avert her eyes. Given the fact that Nodoka was pinned on her back and couldn't move it was proving to be a fruitless exercise. Saki looked down and realised where her head and hands had been resting.

"Oh! I'm sorry..!" she said, springing up. It seemed it was Miyanaga Saki's turn to turn scarlet. _At least I'm not the only one embarrassed._ It was small consolation, really. _Miyanaga-san sure blushes prettily, though._

"You two are just too much!" The blonde wasn't holding her giggles back at all. "I wish Teru let me take a picture of it."

"A picture? Others saw?!" Nodoka couldn't believe the situation she had awoken to. The blonde found that funny as well.

"Awai-chan!" Miyanaga Saki might have been trying to chide her, but she seemed to be too embarrassed to even look at either of them, her blush not receding at all. Nodoka sighed and also found herself struggling to make eye contact with the blonde girl who was still laughing at them. _This girl is unbelievable…_ Nodoka made a mental note to thank the older Miyanaga for preventing that picture from being taken. _On second thought, I should probably just pretend it never happened._

After taking 15 minutes to get up and changed, Nodoka led the girl down to the breakfast area, where they decided to sit with Kiyosumi. Miyanaga Saki seemed especially nervous, however. Right from the off she was strangely polite.

"Hello, sorry for the intrusion. Please take good care of me!" she said politely whilst bowing awkwardly to the table. None of her club mates knew how to take that. This girl who they had seen destroy opponents ruthlessly on the mahjong table was completely different in person, and it was hard to know how to talk to the shy girl given her status.

The president rode to the rescue, though. "Yes please take a seat and join us, Miyanaga-san." _The president is so reliable._ Nodoka was ever-thankful for her natural-sounding tone, up until she continued of course. "We have heard so much about you!" she glanced in Nodoka's direction with a cheeky smile, causing her to immediately blush and look away.

"Err... I don't know… what you mean…" she tried. _Did she really have to say that?_

After the slightly awkward introduction she noticed that Miyanaga Saki fit in surprisingly well with everyone. In particular Yuuki talked her ear off about tacos and mahjong as if her presence was the most normal thing in the world.

"So anyway, Nodoka" the president started, "we missed you last night."

Mako laughed at that, but it was Maho who spoke up "Yeah we thought we would maybe have to send out a search party or something! But then that big scary Shiraitodai person said you were sleeping in their room for some reason."

"Oh I'm sorry that was my fault" said Miyanaga Saki. _Is she blushing?_ "Please forgive me. I'm glad that onee-chan realised that you should be told."

"No, don't worry about it Miyanaga-san." The president answered her, and, unbelievably, she turned and winked at Nodoka, "We could pretty much guess where she was." _Oh my god… again…_ _This is so embarrassing. We should have sat with Shiraitodai… _Nodoka then remembered the blonde girl who had been utterly merciless that very morning. _Oohoshi Awai. Never mind._

After breakfast they began their training camp activities which began with the president carefully going over the rules of whom exactly wasn't allowed to play who. Shiraitodai players weren't allowed to play against Kiyosumi players, and players who qualified for the individuals weren't allowed to play against each other either, unless they were part of the same school team. Nodoka watched enviously as Miyanaga Teru set up a table with her, her sister, Amae Koromo and Fujita-pro.

Nodoka cut her own game short when the second hanchan ended so that she could go and watch the game. Her opponents, also eager to watch the game, didn't put up much resistance to that particular idea. She went and inched her way in so she could stand behind Miyanaga Saki and watch from her point of view, and she really didn't understand her play.

It was not just her weird kans and her absurd rate of making them. Whilst they never failed to give Nodoka goose bumps (especially when they were consecutive), she was more confused about her choices of discard. She often broke melds to discard tiles that were ridiculously dangerous, and surely enough they would get called. It made no sense at all, yet she won 2 of the 3 hanchan Nodoka watched them play, and she came second behind her sister in the other.

She was only second overall according to the scoreboard, but with these opponents who was Nodoka to question that kind of a result? Nodoka also couldn't help but feel satisfied as she watched the game. Fujita-pro was getting soundly beaten overall by the girl she had said was worse than Amae Koromo, another girl who was getting beaten by her. Nodoka smiled to herself. _No one's better than Miyanaga-san._

"What do you think, Nodoka?" Her president had snuck up next to her, and had spoken into her ear in a quiet voice. "She's winning now, right?"

"Yes but I'm having trouble figuring out her play. I really don't understand some of her illogical decisions."

"She wasn't doing so well before, you know, when you were playing. When you weren't watching" Hisa told her.

"Really? How many hanchan have they played?"

"Five or six altogether so far. Miyanaga Teru was winning every hanchan earlier, and now that you are here the younger sister is doing really well, isn't she? I don't think she has been below second place in any of the last 3 hanchan, and she placed first in two of them." The president smiled. "It's almost like she's showing off for you."

Whilst Nodoka found herself blushing at the idea, she was unable to believe it. "I don't think that's likely, president. Mahjong is a game based heavily on luck. Even the best players lose sometimes, you know?" Nodoka couldn't help but hope the irrational idea really was true, though.

When it was time for lunch Nodoka led Miyanaga Saki out through the front entrance so that they could eat together outdoors and in the sunshine. They found a bench outside of the main building and sat down together.

"Haramura-san, I've heard there is a nice outdoor hot spring here. It should have a really good view. Would you like to go in together for a bit, later?" The girl then blushed and looked back down at her food.

"Of course, Miyanaga-san. How about after the next round of mahjong games?" Nodoka paused to sip her drink, "I really wish I could play you again by the way."

Nodoka found she liked it when Miyanaga Saki blushed. After years of being embarrassed by the smallest of things she had found someone who blushed just as easily as she had enough experience that she could emphasize with her at the very least though, which is why she had deliberately changed the subject.

"Hmm yeah. It really is a shame isn't it? I really did have fun playing against you back then, Haramura-san." Miyanaga Saki paused for a period after that, seemingly lost in thought for a while before she continued, "Before that game I thought mahjong was just something to get me into a good school so my mom and my sister don't have to worry."

Nodoka was taken aback by the sudden seriousness and by how earnest Miyanaga Saki was being. She waited patiently for her to continue. When Nodoka realised the girl was struggling to continue, she gently brought her hand up to the girls shoulder and gently squeezed, in a hopefully encouraging gesture. _You don't have to push yourself, Miyanaga-san._ Speaking in general seemed to be a challenge for her so Nodoka would do her best to make it as painless as possible.

Miyanaga Saki smiled at her and continued, "You showed me just how fun mahjong is. No, that's not it. You reminded me how fun it used to be." She took Nodoka's free hand into both of hers and looked her straight in the eyes before she finished. _"_Thank you so much, Haramura-san!"

_ She is so honest and earnest…_ Nodoka knew that the girl was genuinely thankful, even though she hadn't really done anything to deserve that thanks. Nodoka became grudgingly aware that she had been silent, simply staring into her eyes for a bit too long. She ended up needing to avert her eyes so that she could calm herself enough in order to respond.

"I really enjoyed it too, Miyanaga-san, so you don't have to thank me. I must admit I was a little annoyed at your attitude during the first hanchan though!" Miyanaga Saki laughed apologetically at that. "I was happy when you started playing with a smile on your face." Nodoka cursed herself inwardly. _This girl had the strength to look me straight in the eyes when she was talking about her deepest feelings, yet I couldn't even do it when I was saying nothing much in comparison._

She stood up, frustrated. She positioned herself in front of the girl, knelt down and clasped her hand making sure to look into the girl's eyes this time. "Miyanaga-san. Let's go back to the main hall, okay?" She gave the girl her best smile.

_I really do love it when she blushes._

There was no hassle or awkwardness when the time came to go to sleep. She took Miyanaga Saki by the hand and led her to Kiyosumi's room. There wasn't any real significance to which room they picked, they just went that way this time. Nodoka found that sleep was a really enjoyable experience when she could cuddle up with Miyanaga Saki to do it.

The smirks she got from the other Kiyosumi club members for once did not bother her in the slightest. _That's a lie. I still get embarrassed as easily as ever, but enduring it is so much easier now. _They had enjoyed the view from the hot springs together, and had just relaxed there for 20 minutes before bed. Miyanaga Saki was so sweet smelling and cute that Nodoka couldn't understand why she had chosen her of all people to spend her time with.

Nodoka understood just how irrational their relationship was. Why she came to care about this girl to the degree she did was beyond her comprehension. Why the girl seemed to return her affections at every turn was also beyond her comprehension. _Is it really just because of four fun days in the capital?_ Occasionally she would yet still think back to that day when she first laid eyes on the girl. It was in the hotel garden and she had been propped up against a tree, reading a book. If she could go back in time and tell herself how important that girl would become to her she'd probably laugh and call the idea preposterous.

When Nodoka tried to come up with a real, quantifiable reason for why their relationship was blossoming so agreeably she found she couldn't do it. She could list things she liked about the girl, but that wasn't enough to spark such a wonderful friendship in such a small amount of time. Nodoka had been lost in thought for a while now, and Miyanaga Saki was sleeping soundly in her arms. Nodoka listened to her soft breathing for a few minutes. Her face was so serene and adorable that Nodoka couldn't help but smile to herself.

Nodoka leant in and gently kissed Miyanaga Saki on each of her eyes, and then her nose. _Her skin is so clear and smooth._ Nodoka's eyes then found the girl's lips. _Would it be weird if I…? _She leant in, only opening her eyes when her own face couldn't have been more than two inches from the girl. _Wait… What am I thinking…? What am I doing?! Of course it would be weird! And I always knew that it would be weird… what in the heavens am I thinking?_ _This is dangerous. I need to get a hold of myself. Doing something like that would be unforgivable. She's defenseless right now!_

Nodoka was well aware that she had only caught herself just as she was about to do it._ I was so close… I was so close to betraying Miyanaga-san's trust in me! What am I doing? What on earth am I doing_? _No, I need to calm down. Just calm down Nodoka… please just let me calm down._ She took a few minutes with her arm over her eyes to compose herself and her thoughts, deliberately taking large and deep breaths. She moved her arm up to her forehead and wiped the sweat that had formed there.

When she thought maybe she would be able to do some genuine thinking, she found that the mere presence of the girl was enough to make her lose her cool. She gave up, carefully untangling her arm from around Miyanaga Saki's warm body, and doing her best to be quiet as she made her way out of the room. She found her way to the bathroom in the main hall, splashed water into her face several times before turning and making her way out towards the front entrance. She eventually found herself sat back, looking up at the stars from the bench they had eaten lunch together earlier in the day.

After a few minutes of sitting there alone in the dark she felt like she was back to normal. Her first thought upon coherency however was that it would be nice if Miyanaga Saki was there with her so that they could look up at the stars together. _I could tell her about Vega and Altair, and Orihime and Hikiboshi..._ When she realised what she was thinking about the tears came immediately. _What am I doing? What really… why am I so stupid?_ It took Nodoka another five minutes, of which she spent most of it sitting there, chastising her own stupidity, to once more compose herself.

_Maybe… maybe I just need to quit sleeping like this with Miyanaga-san._ _I really don't want to stop…_ but Nodoka knew that was just a selfish reason to reject an idea like that. _It would certainly be better than risking our friendship like sleeping cuddled up with her like that apparently is. _Her own feelings were not the only obstacle to that idea, as Nodoka well knew. _Doing such a thing would hurt Miyanaga-san's feelings too..._ _Maybe I should pretend I'm ill, and tell her to sleep in her own bed so she doesn't catch whatever it is I'm pretending I've got._ _It would have to be a cold or something easy to feign… and something contagious…_ Nodoka wasn't even sure she'd have the willpower to do that, but it was a possible way to avoid hurting the girl's feelings too much at least.

There was another problem, of course_. _An elephant in the room her dad would say. _ Why did I want to kiss her so much? Why do I want to kiss her so much? Aren't we just good, maybe even best friends?_ _The idea of her considering me her best friend would have been wonderful even a week ago, why does the idea feel so hollow now? _Nodoka had objectively thought about whether or not she was romantically interested in her friend, and had decided that she probably wasn't.

Evidently her analysis was wrong, and now that Nodoka thought about it she realised she was constantly thinking about her friend, and not just about her mahjong or her personality. She was consistently catching herself admiring how cute the girl was, and it had even happened several times that very day. She also remembered quite vividly staring into the girl's eyes for a bit too long in the very place where she was currently sitting, unable to think straight at lunch. _Why did I think that was normal for two friends? I even want to look up at the stars with her now… I don't want to look up at the stars with Yuuki… or Maho… or president or anyone else… just her… just… her… I really am… so stupid._

There was another route that Nodoka knew she should at least consider. _Should I tell Miyanaga-san the truth?_ But Nodoka immediately rejected that idea. _Wouldn't that creep the poor girl out, or at the very least scare her half to death?_ _I'm too scared of rejection for that. I'm too scared of losing our friendship. I'm too scared of her laughing at me, or finding me creepy for that._ Nodoka didn't think the girl had it in her to deliberately mock anyone for anything or be knowingly cruel, but… _if she laughed me off, or didn't take me seriously somehow… or if she got a look in her eyes like she thought I was gross or crazy… I wouldn't be able to cope with that… Not at all._

If that wasn't enough there was a second clear problem that Nodoka didn't think there was even a hypothetical solution for. They lived miles and miles away from each other, and the camp was not even a week long. _Why is this happening to me? What am I doing? How could I let this happen? We were having such a good time and I have gone and probably ruined it_.

Nodoka was going to have to do something about it. That much was clear. _It needs to be something to radically change myself. It will have to be drastic enough that I will stop being a threat to my friend. I was dangerously close to emotionally assaulting her tonight, and that is unforgivable. Absolutely unforgiveable! I will not let it happen again and I will not lose this friendship._

Whilst she was sat out there on the bench, alone, Nodoka's thought process led her to an unmistakable realisation. A realisation that posed a question, a question that Nodoka was well aware that she hadn't addressed and she wasn't prepared to address such a question in any case. Nodoka was not even sure the question had an answer. It was such an utterly irrational and pointless and stupid _and painful_ question that she didn't want to think about it at all. _When exactly was it that I fell in love with her?_


	10. Chapter 10 - Expectations

**Chapter 10 - Expectations**

* * *

Nodoka hardly managed to sleep at all that night. After being 'in the bathroom' for over forty-five minutes, she had eventually gone back and attempted to sleep with Miyanaga Saki, but she had been irrational enough to be paranoid that she might even do something awful to the girl whilst she was asleep. Nodoka had even woken the girl up in her angst, who asked worriedly where she had been when she got back. She had fumbled at that and just mumbled something about the bathroom, and hoped that would end it. Nodoka fell asleep eventually but it was a fitful and pathetic sleep and not one bit did it resemble the refreshing rest she had received on the previous night.

She was currently struggling at the mahjong table, but she was barely aware of it. She had been hit to minus in 2 of the 3 hanchan she had played, and she couldn't think straight when she played against Amae Koromo after that, who routinely smashed her along with two Tsuruga girls, one of whom seemed to be a beginner_. That didn't stop her from coming in third, ahead of me._

It wasn't just the lack of sleep hindering Nodoka, or what had happened last night. It was the girl herself. Miyanaga Saki. She had noticed Nodoka's strange behaviour almost immediately after she woke up, and had asked her if _she_ had done anything wrong. Nodoka had never hated herself so much in her entire life. She had the best friendship a person could ask for, and she had ruined everything all on her own. She knew that now, that it was ruined. _Done and dusted._ She might have laughed at her own stupidity if it weren't so painful.

She had at first thought she would be able to salvage the friendship, but Nodoka had completely overlooked a significant problem when she had tried to analyse things; her own emotional state. It was not under her control anymore and she was finding it impossible to do anything about it. She was too depressed, too angry at herself and too frustrated about the time she was wasting to think clearly about anything. Her thoughts whirled relentlessly around in her head and it was driving her crazy.

"Ron, 7700 please" the president called. _I played into another hand and I don't even care… and_ _I'm bound to worry president too at this rate._ _Oh, come to think of it that was the last hand._ _I wonder how many points I have left if any, I haven't been keeping track…_

A sweet, familiar voice from behind her spoke up _"_Haramura-san, are you okay?" she asked, the concern abundantly clear in her voice. _This is too much. I can't face her right now_. Nodoka realised faintly that the tears were coming. _I won't be able to stop them, not with her so close, so worried and it's all my fault. I have no one else to blame. _She stood up, desperately tried to hold back her tears and bowed to her opponents, who were staring at her with unmistakably worried expressions on their faces.

"Thank you for the game." She could not keep the trembling out of her voice. "Please excuse me" she managed, before turning and walking as normally as she could towards the exit. Once she was out of sight she didn't hold back. She ran.

Saki did not understand why Haramura Nodoka was playing so badly. She almost spoke up right then and there when she played into the first hand, but she held herself back. It was rude to interrupt a game whilst it was being played; her sister taught her that years ago, _and Haramura-san wouldn't stand for it for a second._ She needed to muster all her self-control to wait until the game was over at which point she immediately asked Haramura Nodoka if she was okay. To Saki's surprise she was so upset that she was unable even to respond and ran towards the exit.

"Erm, did something happen Takei-san?" she asked Kiyosumi's president, but she seemed confused as well, shrugging at her and telling her that she was about to ask the same question herself.

Saki had at first figured she must have done something to Haramura Nodoka. Maybe she was being too clingy with her; Saki had been all over her the previous morning after all, but Saki had good reason to think that couldn't possibly be it. Saki also thought she might have done something unintentionally to upset her, but she couldn't think of anything that could possibly have upset her quite so much. She had then unthinkingly asked her outright about it but that had upset her even more. _I always screw up in these kinds of situations. I knew I shouldn't have asked her like that. I just knew it._

Watching Haramura Nodoka walk to the exit like that was hard. She was clearly hurting, and yet she was still worried about being polite. It was something Saki wouldn't have been able to do. The worst part was that she seemed like she intended to bear the pain alone. Saki thought they were close enough now that Haramura Nodoka might rely on her a little more, but it seemed that she still had a way to go.

"I'm sorry about this" she said to the onlookers. She followed Haramura Nodoka's example and bowed to the table. "Please excuse me as well." She turned to follow after Haramura Nodoka, making sure to walk and not run.

Haramura Nodoka had clearly ran outdoors, but Saki had no idea which way she went after that, and so she was sure she was about to get lost. She shrugged to herself; she had to at least try to find her. She picked a random direction and walked, keeping to the path. She took up a quick pace at first but after very nearly tripping over on rough looking pavement she decided to take it slower.

Saki was in luck today, after no more than ten minutes of walking she spotted the pink haired girl she was seeking sitting next to a tree, hugging her knees and just staring blankly ahead. _Thank goodness I found her… _ She broke into a run, unable to help herself and asked her if she was okay.

"I'm… I'm okay… I'm sorry Miyanaga-san… I didn't mean to worry you…" she said. She did not make eye-contact with Saki this time.

"Don't worry about it. Do you mind if I sit with you, Haramura-san?"

She shook her head at that. Saki smiled at her and sat down next to her on the grass. Saki wasn't sure what to say to the girl to make her feel safe, so she tried just simply talking about nothing in particular. "I'm having so much fun at this camp, Haramura-san! There's so many really strong opponents… so many nice people to meet and talk with… I met all of your friends from the Kiyosumi mahjong club… I've relaxed in the hot springs… It's so much fun, and we have so much time left!"

Haramura Nodoka nodded, "Yes… it's… fun…"

"But my favourite part about this trip… is my time spent with you, Haramura-san."

Haramura Nodoka looked back at her then. "Miyanaga-san…"

Saki had thought she had said the right thing when the girl smiled for a moment, but it didn't last long. She immediately looked sad again and looked away. "Haramura-san?" she tried.

"I'm so… so sorry Miyanaga-san… I've ruined everything…" she sniffed. The realisation that she was crying was hard on Saki.

"Haramura-san… I don't understand…"

She continued to look away without saying a word, so Saki wrapped her arms around and hugged her instead, making sure to be as gentle as she could. The action drew a startled cry from Haramura Nodoka's lips, but she didn't protest against it when Saki lay there resting her own head on the girl's shoulder, closing her eyes tightly. "Haramura-san… You don't have to bear it alone…" Saki told her, "Please don't bear it all alone."

Saki felt her jolt when she said those words, and suddenly the girl was hugging her back and crying into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry…" she repeated, "I really am so sorry…"

"Shhhh" Saki whispered. "Haramura-san you are shaking." Haramura Nodoka was normally so wonderfully and perfectly mannered, and so in control of herself and confident too. Witnessing her in such a state was having a profound effect on Saki, who was becoming increasingly concerned.

She wasn't very good with people, and didn't really know how to be there for them and Haramura Nodoka was sobbing frantically into her shoulder, only stopping her crying to whisper that she was sorry every now and again. Saki found her own eyes welled up with tears. _I don't understand…_ _Things were going so well… Things were really… going so well… At least I thought they were…_ She had been confident that her friendship with Haramura Nodoka was as strong as any she had ever had.

Saki did her best to comfort the distraught girl. She told her that everything was okay, that she was there for her, that she had nothing to worry about. Useless and pointless lines and other platitudes but Saki needed to do something, and she couldn't think of anything else. She'd read books all her life and yet the words that came so easily to the heroes and heroines in those books in times of strife were frustratingly out of her reach.

She gave up on words, and simply stroked and played with her hair and rubbed her back as gently as she could. She stayed sat down like that, stroking Haramura Nodoka's long pink hair for what must have been at least 10 minutes. Saki wouldn't have been able to tell you exactly how long it was however, she lost track of time in those moments. _It really hurts to see Haramura-san like this_.

When Haramura Nodoka eventually began to calm down she stopped stroking her hair, and gently broke off the hug so that she could look into the girl's bright blue eyes. She placed her hand on one of her shoulders, and with her other hand she brushed the side of the girl's face softly-as softly as she could to hopefully help stay the girl's tears. She wasn't sure why she did it, but when Haramura Nodoka's hand covered her own just as gently she knew she'd made the right choice. With one hand on her shoulder, and the other gently touching the side of her face, she looked into Haramura Nodoka's eyes and spoke to the girl as honestly as she could.

"I'm sorry… I don't know what is wrong… but I know that I would forgive you for anything. You mean the world to me, Haramura-san." Saki did not know whether she was saying the right thing or not. She was aware that she was no good with words, but she could usually get through to Haramura Nodoka by being honest so that's what she did, but her eyes were still welling up with tears. "Please Haramura-san, just tell me, okay?" she tried.

Haramura Nodoka nodded slowly, "I'll try" she whispered, and closed her eyes. After a few moments she began, "Last night…." She opened her eyes, but ended up looking downwards. "I… I… " She looked up into Saki's eyes. "I can't do this, Miyanaga-san. I really can't!" She averted her eyes, obviously just ashamed of herself. _Haramura-san is working too hard… I need to help her this time._

"Just do your best to remember your trust in me. Believe me when I say I will forgive you. I promise I will."

Haramura Nodoka forced herself to look into her own eyes. _Haramura-san is so strong._ She started a broken, stuttering speech, but she kept her eyes transfixed on Saki's throughout. "Okay… well…. I ki… I k-kissed you… Well no. Well yes… but at first it was playful. I promise you… I promise you it wasn't weird… I don't think so at least…. But… I w-wanted to do it… to your… I… wanted to k-kiss you… o-on… on your…l-l-lips… I'm so sorry… I was so close to doing it… I wanted to k-kiss you and I don't know why." She looked downwards then before continuing, "That's… that's not true… I know why… I'm so sorry… I think I'm f-falling… I didn't mean to but… I think I'm falling in…lo… but… I… I… didn't mean to… I didn't!"

Haramura Nodoka's face was a mess of tears when she looked back up and into Saki's eyes, which were wide open now. "I…" she said quietly before pausing, but when she resumed her voice had a strange frantic quality to it that seemed entirely foreign to Haramura Nodoka's nature, "You trusted me, Miyanaga-san! You trusted me and then I paid you back with betrayal! I betrayed your trust in me! I am so awful and I am so sorry… I really am so sorry."

Haramura Nodoka dropped her eyes from her own again. She did her best to continue but her voice was back down to a whisper. "Please still be my friend… I know it's selfish… and I have no right to ask… but please… please be my friend. Please don't think that I'm creepy. Please forgive me. You promised me that you would forgive me." The tears ran freely down the girl's face, and showed no indication of letting up.

Saki had no idea that this of all things was the problem. _She really thought I was going to think she was creepy… and she still told me… she's so brave…_ Her hand was still gently holding Haramura Nodoka's face. She hesitated in thought, but quickly made her mind up. It was her turn to be brave now. She leaned forward in a motion fast enough that Haramura Nodoka did not have time to protest and kissed one of her beautiful blue eyes, as gently as she could, just as it fluttered shut. Saki withdrew backwards and smiled at her.

"Stop crying, Haramura-san" she said cheerfully; she knew what she needed to do now. She leaned forward and kissed just below her other eye, as beautiful and as mystifying as the other. She kissed her just where her tears were yet still forming. "Tears tears fly away," she chanted happily, confident at last. Haramura Nodoka was still trembling slightly, but was now staring at her in silence. Saki took that as a good sign.

She leaned in to Haramura Nodoka's face, and pecked her on the nose. "I'm really sorry, but I was awake… when… last night… I really am sorry." she whispered whilst their faces were mere inches apart. She couldn't help but smile as she did it despite the hurtful mistake she had made that night. Doing her best not to tremble too badly, she leant in towards her beautiful face again despite feeling Nodoka's body stiffen slightly. She softly touched the girl's lips with her own, their noses brushing past one another so gently, so softly. _Please… Please accept my feelings Haramura-san._

She held her lips against Haramura Nodoka's for several seconds, barely able to endure it, barely able to break herself away. When she opened her eyes she saw that the girl's eyes were shut firmly, which brought an unbidden smile to Saki's face when their lips finally parted.

With their faces still just inches apart she spoke to the girl in less than a whisper."I've… I've always thought you were beautiful, Haramura-san."

She let go of her face and carefully ran her hands through her beautiful long pink hair. "Let's… Let's call this even, okay?" Her heart was still pounding as she gently stroked the side of the beautiful girl's face. "I… I have wanted to kiss you too… and I want to kiss you more..." Saki let go of her then, withdrawing backwards. "Please don't be sad about anything like that anymore, okay?"

Haramura Nodoka finally smiled back at her.

Nodoka was not sure what was happening. She had told Miyanaga Saki about the awful thing she had done and suddenly she was being kissed_. Miyanaga-san…is kissing me!_ She never could have imagined that her heart could feel so unstable and yet so wonderful at the same time. She couldn't actually do anything apart from be helpless as Miyanaga Saki assaulted her with those wonderful, soft and girly kisses. At first she tried to resist. She did not deserve such affection, and didn't want Miyanaga Saki to force herself.

She had even brought up her hands in an effort to dissuade the advancing force, but her body gave in feebly once the first kiss had found its mark; after that she could not have resisted even if she'd wanted to. Each kiss sent daggers through her heart, and she was powerless before them. The hands who had thought to deny her were dangling uselessly by her sides by the end. Miyanaga Saki then told her not to be sad, which almost caused Nodoka to break down crying all over again. _Doesn't she know how adorable she is? How wonderful and kind and honest she is? How can I be sad when the girl I love is kissing me like this?_

"I'm never sad when you are near me, Miyanaga-san." she told her honestly, her voice breaking slightly as she said it. She took the cute girl's hand. "You really are so wonderful."

"Thank you…" She then looked downwards, and spoke in a near-frighteningly worried voice, "D-Do y-you… W-Will you accept my feelings?" she asked.

The question was quite a shock for Nodoka. "Y-Yes… Of course… I thought… I thought that was obvious" she said with a smile. She closed her eyes and tried again, "Nothing would make me happier, Miyanaga-san."

Miyanaga Saki smiled beautifully then. "Thank you Haramura-san. I am so happy."

Nodoka blushed at the mere sight of that smile, "Miyanaga-san…"

Miyanaga Saki suddenly blushed deeply and looked down. Nodoka was slightly concerned until she explained in a small voice, still staring downwards, "It's… starting to feel a bit awkward calling each other by our last names…"

Nodoka, who was also feeling the embarrassment of the situation, nodded. _To think, we kissed each other like that before we ever used each other's first name. _"Y-yes… it is..." she managed.

Miyanaga Saki looked up at her, smiling but still maintaining the significant blush. "It would make me happy to hear you call me Saki, Haramura-san." she said shyly.

Feeling shy herself, Nodoka forced herself onwards. "M-Me too. You can call me Nodoka!"

Saki nodded, and hesitated slightly. "N-Nodoka….chan" she said softly and even carefully, as though just saying it would cause unknown manifestations to occur. _It is so wonderful to hear her finally say it, after all this time._

"Yes?" she hesitated. _It's my turn now…_ "S-Saki….san" she tried. Her voice sounded weak and stilted to her and she felt embarrassed even as she said it.

"Yes?" Saki said slowly, smiling beautifully, and they just knelt there looking at each other for a moment.

Saki was the first to break the silence, "U-um… it's still kind of embarrassing…"

Nodoka nodded, "It is… just a little bit…" _She smiled when I said her name, though._ That alone was enough to make any embarrassment worth it, Nodoka knew.

They walked along the pathway on the way back to the main building hand in hand. Nodoka smiled to herself. _I want to kiss her again._ She gave Saki's hand a squeeze, to which Saki squeezed right back. As she walked, Nodoka found herself stealing glances at the cute girl who had kissed her in that way.

"Saki… san?" Calling her by that name was definitely going to take some getting used to. "You didn't get lost, Saki-san." _I'm glad she didn't get lost._ _I'd still be depressed, and I would be responsible for getting this girl lost when it was getting close to being late out._ Saki just laughed bashfully at her comment which Nodoka didn't mind at all. _Her laugh is adorable._

She held Saki back almost on a whim, and Saki turned to her, confused. "I… I want to k-kiss you again," Nodoka admitted, feeling the blush spreading on her face.

"I'd… I'd like that, Hara… I mean Nodoka-chan." Saki smiled at her own stutter, then continued, "You… you don't have to ask…" Saki leaned in surprisingly boldly for someone with such a deep blush on her face and kissed Nodoka. _Her lips are so soft and sweet._ _She smells so nice. _Nodoka was faintly aware that their hands were interlocked together between them, and the kiss was somewhat less awkward than their first. Nodoka would never forget that kiss and it would forever be one of her happiest memories, but she would look forward to future kisses with enthusiasm as broke off her kiss, and looked into Nodoka's eyes, still smiling.

It was Nodoka though, who began talking first. "Saki-san… I've been wondering… If you were awake when I… when I k-kissed you yesterday… why didn't you say something?" Saki blushed suddenly at her question, so cutely. Nodoka leaned forward and kissed her; to not do so whilst she was blushing like that would have been a crime in Nodoka's opinion. Saki gave a surprised "Oh!" when Nodoka moved in, but she found she could probably get used to kissing this girl, and she thought it were past time that she were the bold one.

When the delightful kiss was over, Saki looked back at Nodoka but quickly dropped her eyes. "Erm… I don't know. I wasn't really awake… at first at least… when you kissed me… but I wasn't really asleep either… I guess I was embarrassed… I… I didn't think… it was r-romantic… I didn't think you liked me like that… so I was scared… I was scared that you would notice how fast… how fast my heart was beating…" she continued looking downwards, obviously embarrassed. _She really is so wonderfully honest and cute…_ "I'm really so sorry… I was scared and just pretended to be asleep… I was relieved when you left… If I'd known how upset you were I…"

Nodoka cut her off, "Miya-…Saki-san… You don't have to apologise for anything at all…. It was my fault. All of it. I should have just been braver and confessed to you instead of causing this… mess… I like the idea of calling it even… like you said. Let's do that, okay?" She asked, giving Saki a smile.

Saki shook her head at that, returning the smile. "Nuh-uh Nodoka-chan, I'm glad it happened like this."

"You're glad?" Nodoka stared at the girl stupidly.

Saki smiled and bashfully explained, staring down at the floor, "I'm really glad I was finally the one… who came and found you… instead of the other way around…"

_This girl... She really does know how to make the pain fly away._ Nodoka found her eyes threatening to water all over again. She had never been so happy that her analysis of something was wrong. Out of all the outcomes she had predicted whilst she was thinking things through that night, this result had never occurred to her as a possibility. Saki made to continue walking in the direction of the main building, but Nodoka didn't budge. The girl… _My girl…_ turned and looked back at her thoughtfully.

"Saki-san…" Nodoka started after a moment, "I want to kiss you again."

Hisa was playing mahjong against Amae Koromo, Maho and the Kazekoshi girl she had played at the prefectural final, named Bundou. _At least I'm not last, I suppose._ Hisa found that she could not deal with Amae Koromo. Maho was the only player to win a significantly large hand aside from Koromo, and apparently Koromo could not even use half of her power right now; something to do with the moon, according to Ryuumonbuchi Touka who was watching their game. Maho was in second place for most of the first hanchan but Koromo had directly hit both her and Bundou often enough that Hisa ended up in second place by the time Bundou went bust.

Hisa won just a single decent hand during their first hanchan. She managed to evade Koromo's control, which was apparently lacklustre compared to the control Nodoka had been up against on the night of the tournament, by calling tiles in quick succession and then won with a single hell wait on a pair. Hisa quickly decided that it was fortunate that she chose Nodoka to play against the girl. _I almost sent Maho up against her._ Hisa might have laughed at the idea now, in hindsight, but to be fair to Maho she was the first player to win an expensive hand besides Koromo herself in the game, and it was bigger than any of the hands Hisa managed to complete. Hisa had won a few smaller hands, but Amae Koromo's hands were typically much bigger and she won more hands in total as well, dwarfing Hisa's overall score.

Hisa now knew that no one besides Nodoka at their club would have been able to compete against her, something she would have to fix on this trip. Hisa initially thought Yuuki might have been able to give the girl a run for her money in the East round but when they played she was soundly beaten, her hands coming together far too slowly compared to Amae Koromo's incredible speed. Hisa would have to work on that with Yuuki this trip, many of the national teams would be playing their aces in the vanguard position. As it stood she was going to be slaughtered.

She spent a few minutes wondering what Nodoka could possibly be so upset about, but quickly realised she didn't have even the slightest of ideas. The girl had been on cloud nine since Miyanaga Saki had arrived, and Hisa was originally expecting her to stay that way for the entirety of the trip. Yet for some reason the girl was more upset than she'd ever seen her this morning, and she was absolutely terrible when it came to playing mahjong. Hisa was not overly worried until she realised that Miyanaga Saki was also in the dark as to why she was suddenly so upset.

She still left Nodoka in her hands however who Hisa was sure would have more chance of helping her than anyone else, Hisa included, but she was still concerned. That was of course until the two girls walked back in together, hand in hand with Nodoka looking absolutely euphoric. _That girl sure is good at dealing with our princess._ Hisa decided she'd have to ask Miyanaga Saki her secret. _On second thought maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea._ She laughed to herself at the idea.

"What's so funny, president?" Maho asked her, startled.

"Oh, nothing at all. Let's get back to it." She discarded a tile. _I'm going to win this time._

Later in the day, a small crowd gathered to watch Miyanaga Teru play. Apparently she was having trouble against someone who was not her sister and so Hisa found herself a position to watch. Miyanaga Teru was playing with 2 other girls from Shiraitodai, with Hirose Sumire was on her left and Oohoshi Awai was on her right. In the opposite seat to Miyanaga Teru sat Ryuumonbuchi Touka. Miyanaga Saki and Nodoka were stood huddled together and were watching intently, and Saki looked like she was upset.

Several Ryuumonbuchi members were also watching, and they also seemed to be as concerned about what was going on as Saki was. Hisa watched with interest. She was pretty sure she knew what was happening, but she didn't understand Ryuumonbuchi Touka at all. She seemed like a solid player usually; similar in style to their own princess even, but sometimes she just seemed to become insanely strong. Judging by the concern on the faces of Ryuumonbuchi, Hisa assumed the power or ability or whatever it was wasn't all good.

So far it seemed that Miyanaga Teru had won the first hanchan by a huge amount of points, but the current hanchan was neck and neck with Ryuumonbuchi Touka and Miyanaga Teru in first and second respectively. The other two girls didn't seem to be in the game at all and Hisa found herself contemplating what triggered it. The girl had been triggered in the final hand of the Vice captain's last hanchan at the team tournament at least. That was after she had been directly hit multiple times by Tsuruga's Momo, who had proven to have some kind of stealth ability Hisa had realised after playing against her herself at the individuals. _That must be it._ She moved over to Nodoka and Saki and asked them what the score in the first hanchan had been.

"Onee-chan knocked that girl to minus…" Miyanaga Saki replied, almost in a whimper, "but then she suddenly changed…" _Miyanaga Saki… is trembling?_ _Ryuumonbuchi's Touka really is something, making the fearsome Miyanaga Saki shake like this._ She was also currently ahead of both Miyanaga Teru and Oohoshi Awai in the hanchan. It seemed Hisa had been correct in her previous deduction. The power was clearly somehow triggered when she was getting beaten badly at the table.

"Saki" Miyanaga Teru called out after they were done. Teru had won the second hanchan in the end but she had done it by extending her dealer streak by attacking Oohoshi Awai and Hirose Sumire. She hadn't been able to directly attack Touka at all. "Come swap with Awai, you should play this girl as well."

Miyanaga Saki seemed hesitant at first, but made to move to the table. _Such a diligent and obedient sister._ Nodoka seemed concerned, but let her go. _I guess she wants to watch this too. _The Ryuumonbuchi girl Hisa played against at the team tournament, Hajime, didn't like that at all. She spoke up, "I don't think that's a good idea, Miyanaga-san. Touka needs to rest." She seemed genuinely concerned. Miyanaga Teru looked up at her with that neutral expression she seemed to constantly wear, and then she focused her attention on Touka. When Touka said not a single word, Teru nodded.

"Good game" she said calmly, and made to rise, but then her garnet red eyes found their way to Nodoka, which immediately put Hisa on high alert.

"Haramura Nodoka," she started, "You should play instead." There was a murmur at that. Much had been made of the rules at the camp so far, by Hisa herself for the most part and they were clear that these girls were not allowed to play against each other, doubly so even. Not only were they part of the same team tournament, but both were also qualified for the individuals.

Nodoka was evidently startled by that who hesitated before she replied, "I really want to, but the tournament rules clearly forbid such an action." Nodoka was too proper to do such a thing, and Hisa judged that she had made a smart decision, especially with so many witnesses around.

Teru just shrugged. "Don't you want to play against Saki?" she asked. _Wow. This girl does not hold back. _Hisa realised she ought to step in here, for Nodoka's sake more than anyone elses. She knew that Nodoka might not be able to turn Miyanaga Saki down, regardless of which rules were being broken.

She stepped forward. "No no, I don't think that's a good idea, Miyanaga-san. All it would take is one person accidentally mentioning this to the wrong person, and suddenly both of our schools would be at risk of some serious trouble."

Teru seemed like she might continue her assault anyway, but instead relented. "Very well then" she said neutrally. "Do you perchance know where Amae Koromo or the pro is?" she asked. _She does not even stop for a breath, this one. _

Teru was slightly concerned. Her sister barely played any mahjong that could be considered useful training for her since they arrived. She joined in with the training sessions, but she had not done much playing of players outside of Shiraitodai, and had barely played against Amae Koromo or the pro at all. She also wasn't playing any mahjong in her free time, which she spent the majority of off somewhere with Haramura Nodoka. Teru somehow doubted that whatever they were doing was out of a desire to become better mahjong players.

Teru wasn't about to reprimand her sister for these things, she was happy that Saki was enjoying herself for once, but she did want to set up a real training session for them. So far Saki had only played one match that was genuinely challenging that she could not have gotten simply training with Shiraitodai, and Teru planned to change that. It was a shame that it was not a full moon, really. Amae Koromo was certainly a national class monster, but her control wasn't that hard to break, at least during the day. Not for Teru. She had not let the girl get to the last round at all whenever they had played so far, and her sister was better at breaking Teru's win-streaks.

It was almost time for bed, and Nodoka was watching Saki play mahjong against Amae Koromo, the tall green haired girl who had played against Yuuki at the team match named Inoue Jun and another green-haired girl who was a Shiraitodai substitute player by the name of Seiko Matano. _Saki-san is so talented, and so adorable._ Nodoka was always in awe when she watched her play. She made decisions that Nodoka would never even dream of, but they always seemed to work out in her favour, but she also frequently made perfectly logical decisions as well. After two hanchan, in both of which Saki came top, they gave up and Saki turned around and smiled up at Nodoka. _I'll never tire of her smile. _

"You were so amazing, Saki-san" she told her truthfully. Saki blushed at that but said nothing. She held out her hand and Nodoka took it gratefully. _My Saki-san._ They walked towards bed. They hadn't said anything but it seemed they would be sleeping in Shiraitodai's room tonight. It would be the first time they slept together after Nodoka had thought about kissing her in her sleep. She would never have dreamed that she would be so comfortable with the idea of going to bed with Saki again so soon, and so completely guilt free. Yet _another thing I owe her._

The club president called out to Nodoka suddenly. "Haramura-san. Could I speak to you for a second?"

Nodoka frowned. _Haramura-san? She hasn't called me that in ages._ She looked back at Saki, "I'll be right there" she said, watching her go before turning to the president. "Yes, President?"

"You feel better now then?"

"Yes, sorry for worrying you earlier. I was just being silly."

"That's good to hear. I've noticed that you and Miyanaga Saki are on a first name basis now." It wasn't a question, and Nodoka felt herself getting embarrassed. She did her best to get herself under control.

"Yes" she responded as calmly as she could. The president smiled dangerously at that.

"You know, people are starting to fear playing against Miyanaga Saki whilst you are watching" she teased. Nodoka didn't know what to say to that. "What happened between you two? You went from being absolutely distraught to looking like you'd won the lottery within less than an hour."

"Erm, ah…." Nodoka realised she was floundering slightly too late, the presidents eyes were full of amusement. "It was just a misunderstanding on my behalf," she assured her unconvincingly, "it's nothing to worry about."

"Nodoka" the president said. Nodoka listened up at that, suddenly the president sounded oddly serious. "I'm going to come off as cruel here, maybe, but I think you need to start pacing yourself. You are going to have to say goodbye to her in a few days. Are you prepared for that?" she asked.

"I did it before, president. Please don't worry about me." Nodoka didn't want to think about that. _Not at all._

"It might be harder this time" she replied. "Well I probably shouldn't be poking my nose into your business anyway. Go on, I'm sure she's waiting for you."

"Thank you president, have a good night."

The president returned her pleasantries and went in the direction of the mahjong room. Nodoka went and fetched her pyjamas and Etopen from Kiyosumi's room, before turning and heading for the sweet girl. The president's words worried Nodoka. _Saying goodbye to her… I don't want to._ She pushed the thought away. She knew she was being childish, but what else could she do apart from make the most of their time together?

It was still fairly early, but Nodoka didn't want to wake anyone up. She opened the door as quietly as she could and closed it carefully behind her. Saki was already curled up in bed, fast asleep. Nodoka crept up to her. She couldn't help but stand there for a moment, admiring her girl sleeping. She would never get tired of watching Saki sleep, she realised. The president's words forgotten, she carefully undressed, put on her pyjamas and climbed into Saki's futon.

"Are you awake?" she whispered softly, once she had settled, but got no response_._ She smiled to herself. She lay down next to the girl and simply watched the cute girl for a few moments before stroking the girl's hair out of her face. Their faces were inches apart when Nodoka took the girl's head gently into her hands. At the mere idea of what she was about to do Nodoka felt herself blushing, but she was too close to back down now. She kissed the sleeping Saki lightly on the lips_. I really did want to do that, Saki-san._

She then kissed the girl just as lightly again, but the girl stirred and spoke suddenly, "Nodoka… chan… I'm sorry…"

Nodoka almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh..! I'm sorry Saki-san! I didn't mean to wake you…"

"No it wasn't that… I wasn't… asleep… I'm sorry… I should have said when you asked…"

_Oh my god… She was awake…_ Nodoka felt her face burning and could not bring herself to respond. Nodoka rolled over quickly to face the other way, unable to calm down or say even a single word. _I am so embarrassed… I should have… I shouldn't have done that… She's going to think I'm so creepy… _After a few minutes passed she felt she was calm enough to say something. "Saki-san… I… I-I'm really sorry… I shouldn't do that kind of thing… I won't do it again… I promise." she said without moving, still facing away from the girl. Nodoka could not even be sure Saki was still awake.

It was a small, embarrassed voice that responded after a moment of silence, "N-Nodoka-chan… That's not it… that's not it at all… I wanted to be asleep so that you could… but I was just… I just couldn't… I was too excited… to fall asleep…"

Nodoka turned over at that, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping open quite rudely. _She was excited about me kissing her whilst she was asleep? She knew I was going to do it… Of course she did… I all but told her about it… Why am I such an idiot? But how on earth can she say such things out loud? _Saki's body was still faced towards her, but she was looking downwards, obviously humiliated. Nodoka reached her hand out towards her face and stroked the hair that had fallen back there. _What can I say to make her feel comfortable again?_

"Saki-san… I… I can't wait to k-kiss you whilst you are asleep." Nodoka involuntarily looked down away from Saki's face as she said it. _I can't believe I said that._

Nodoka was happy when she noticed that Saki was smiling and looking at her again out of the corner of her eye. _Well my plan worked, but now it's me who can't look at her. I am so hopeless._ She felt like she literally couldn't look at the girl after the comment, either.

Saki was determined to outdo her however, grasping Nodoka's hand and interlocking their fingers between them, "Do you want to kiss now… as well?" she whispered, and unlike Nodoka she was strong enough to keep her gaze on her own eyes as she did so and she somehow managed to keep it up afterwards as well. Nodoka just nodded once.

Nodoka didn't think there could possibly be a better way to fall asleep than to be face to face with her girl, kissing her when she felt like it, receiving those wonderful and soft kisses when Saki felt like it, all the while staring into her eyes. By the time she fell asleep she was feeling so happy and relaxed that she wouldn't have traded those moments for anything, not even a sleeping kiss.

When Nodoka came to, she recognised the light breathing that indicated the room was full of sleepers. She looked down and found that Saki was resting her head on her chest again, and was still fast asleep. Nodoka felt herself blushing heavily, but did her best to stay quiet. Fortunately, after going over what happened when Oohoshi Awai had tortured her in her head, she had come up with a plan in case this happened again.

She carefully rolled Saki onto her back, using her hands to make sure Saki's head and back were well supported until she was safely on her pillow. _Just as planned._ She smiled to herself and watched Saki for a few moments. She contemplated kissing the now surely sleeping Saki, but quickly dismissed the idea. The room was full of Shiraitodai students and even the girl's sister, if even one of them happened to see her kiss the sleeping beauty quite a scandal could break loose. She carefully stood up and changed as quietly as she could. She was about ready to leave when Saki murmured in her sleep.

"No… do… ka… cha…" Nodoka's eyes widened. _Oh my god-_ _She said my name! No doubt about it!_ Nodoka couldn't believe how happy such a silly thing made her feel as she made her way down towards the bath.

* * *

**Note: I am fully aware that their relationship progresses (way) faster in my story, and I apologise about the kiss scene. It's the first kiss Scene I've ever written, so bear that in mind please.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Demons

**Chapter 11 - Demons**

* * *

At the bath she found Mako and the president relaxing. After spending five or so minutes washing herself Nodoka joined them. President looked up at her and raised her eyebrows.

"Miyanaga-san isn't with you today, Nodoka?" She asked.

"It's not like we have to do everything together, president." Nodoka replied calmly. She did not know what came over her, but that response was colder than she had intended. Nodoka thought that maybe it was because of their conversation yesterday.

"Oh. Okay. If you say so," the president replied smugly.

Mako then spoke up. "What are you going to do when we have to leave?" She asked her. "I can't imagine it will be fun for you."

"It most certainly will not be fun for me." Nodoka replied, far more harshly than she intended once again. Nodoka was on a roll lately. She really didn't want to think about that impending disaster, though. _Two days. I have two more days with Saki-san, but I really need to get my emotions under control._

"I know it won't be. Sorry for bringing it up."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you Someya-senpai. The thought just depresses me and makes me feel frustrated. Please excuse my rude behaviour." Nodoka was genuinely sorry. Mako hadn't deserved the rebuttal one bit.

"No worries, Nodoka."

They relaxed mostly in quiet for about 10 minutes before they were joined by Ryuumonbuchi Touka, Hajime and the girl with glasses whose name embarrassingly eluded Nodoka.

"Haramura Nodoka!" Ryuumonbuchi Touka announced. "We need to have a rematch today! We will soon see who the true idol is!"

Nodoka had looked up at the sound of her name. "Erm… Yes sure… I would be happy to play you again." She responded. _What was that about an… idol was it?_

Hajime looked at Nodoka, "I think Miyanaga Saki was looking for you just now."

"Oh. Thank you for letting me know. Could you please tell me where she was when you saw her last?" she asked politely.

"Erm she was in the lobby. I think she was headed outdoors." _Oh dear._

"I better go then. Please if you will excuse me." Nodoka rushed a little bit too much to get out of the bath and almost slipped in her haste to get out. She received some raised eyebrows for her trouble, but Saki was terrible with directions, so she had to find her quickly before she got too lost.

She quickly got changed, and set out towards the outdoor area. She walked through the lobby area and out of the main door and onto the path she had run along when she had been crying the previous day. Embarrassed at the memory she quickly pressed on. After ten minutes of searching that way, she gave up and headed back towards the fork in the pathway that had taken her here in the first place. She first checked the main playing hall and cafeteria. _No luck._ She made her way back outside and walked down the path opposite to the direction of the tree where they had shared their first kiss.

Nodoka was pretty sure Saki would stick to the path. She was terrible with directions but she was smart enough to not stray away from the path, or at least Nodoka hoped so. If she had gone off-road they were in serious trouble. After 5 minutes of searching she came to another fork, and didn't know what to do.

"Saki-san!" She shouted. _That won't do at all._ She put all of her lungs behind it, "SAKI-SAN!" She yelled, happy that there were no bystanders around to witness the brutish behaviour. She couldn't hear any response. Nodoka sighed in frustration; she did not have any idea what to do now. _Think about it logically._ She looked at both of the path ways. One clearly led back around to the training camp. Nodoka deduced that if she was lucky Saki would have taken that path, but if she went that way she probably didn't need Nodoka to find her anyway.

Upon that realisation she immediately followed the other path which led her through a woody area. Tall, densely packed trees lined up on both sides of the pathway but at least there weren't any more forks in the path way. After 15 minutes she finally spotted Saki walking the opposite direction down the path. She was evidently crying and was looking down at the ground, oblivious to the fact that Nodoka had already found her.

"Saki-san!" She called, "There you are." Saki looked up, and her expression immediately turned into a smile. Nodoka's eyes widened in happy surprise when she realised it was seeing her that had brought it on, even if it was just because the girl wasn't lost anymore.

"Nodoka-chan! You came for me!" She ran over to Nodoka, wiped her eyes with her sleeve and their hands were soon interlocked.

"Of course I came for you, Saki-san. You got lost again" she sighed. Saki blushed at that and scratched her head.

"Umm yeah… Sorry" She gave a small shrug. She looked somehow sad all of a sudden, and Nodoka felt a twang of guilt when she realised why. "I… I was worried when you weren't there when I woke up" she admitted, looking downwards. Her honesty was one of Nodoka's favourite things about her, but it was a double-edged sword sometimes.

"I'm really sorry Saki-san. You just looked so peaceful whilst you were sleeping I didn't want to disturb you. I didn't mean to worry you." Saki looked a little happier at that, and the smile returned to her face. "Shall we go back to the main building?" Nodoka asked her. Saki nodded shyly, she was still embarrassed because she got lost, it seemed.

"Did you kiss me?" Saki asked her as they were walking back down the path. "Whilst I was sleeping I mean." Nodoka looked at her friend, but she didn't seem to be teasing her.

"I thought about it" she admitted, struggling not to betray her embarrassment to the girl.

"You didn't?" she asked earnestly. _Is she disappointed?_

"The room was full of your fellow Shiraitodai schoolmates, Saki-san. I was worried what they would think if they saw it." Saki just laughed softly at that, and agreed that probably would have been bad. They walked in silence for a few minutes after that. Nodoka was surprised to find she really enjoyed the silence, walking through the woods hand in hand with Saki. She noticed sounds and smells she hadn't when she originally came this way. The birds singing so beautifully, the rustling of the leaves and the sound the wind made against them, the smell of damp grass and trees and dirt. Those things were previously irrelevant, but now had all sorts of meaning.

There was a question niggling at her though, so she turned to her friend regretfully breaking the wonderful quiet. "Why did you come this way, Saki-san? There's a road that obviously leads back to the main building that you would have had to have walked past to get here. You would have known you were lost at that point, surely."

"Erm I wanted to find… I wanted to go back to the tree where we first..." Saki blushed adorably and trailed off without ever saying the final word. _She's so cute it hurts._

"Saki-san. That tree is in the opposite direction of where I found you." Nodoka winked at Saki then, who blushed even deeper. "It's actually the first place I looked for you." Nodoka realised what she had said, and blushed herself. _I am utterly useless when it comes to this girl. _

Saki was suddenly beaming at her though. She stopped, tugging Nodoka back lightly to turn around to face her. "Saki-san…" Nodoka whispered, staring into the girl's eyes.

"Nodoka-chan…"

They were surrounded by thick forestry, and Nodoka couldn't help but smile as she stared into those eyes that seemed to be drawn to her as well. Nodoka held onto her small and delicate hands as she kissed her, unable to hold herself back.

"I'm so happy I met you, Saki-san" Nodoka told her truthfully when their lips parted, "I really am so glad."

"That makes me so happy, Nodoka-chan… I'm so happy that you could return my feelings…"

"Saki-san…"

"Shall we go back, Nodoka-chan?"

Nodoka nodded. They were walking together just a few minutes later when Saki turned to Nodoka, "We won't be able to… do that anymore once we get to the main building, right?" Saki asked. She didn't have to tell Nodoka what she meant by 'that.'

"I'd like to Saki-san, but it would cause you and your sister too much trouble." Nodoka thought that Saki was smart enough to realise that even if she was willing to bear it, it wouldn't be pleasant for anyone if Nodoka caused her and her family that kind of a problem. There were also the problems it would cause for Saki's team members, her sister in particular.

Nodoka herself would only really have embarrassment to deal with should Kiyosumi or anyone else ever find out, although she couldn't imagine how her reputation as a player would be affected by the revelation of the relationship. _I wonder if that's what we are in. A 'relationship'?_ It was fortunate that her father would likely never find out about it either even if it did somehow make it into the press; he would have to pick up a mahjong magazine for that. Nodoka had absolutely no idea how he would take it if he ever did find out. _Not well, most likely._

"We are almost back," Saki continued, "that's why… that's why I wanted to k-kiss you just now..." She took Nodoka's hand as they returned to walking.

"Saki-san, we are still a good 10 minutes from the main building." Nodoka winked at her then, intensifying her blush. "You blush so prettily, Saki-san. I wish I blushed like that."

Saki stopped upon hearing that and stared at her with wide eyes. "N-Nodoka-chan… Y-… You… I can't… I can't believe you think that... You look stunning when you blush, everyone likes watching it."

Nodoka didn't know what to say to that. She looked away, even more embarrassed now that she realised that she was of course blushing again. Saki was watching and smiling brightly at her too, which wasn't helping things. Nodoka supposed that some things never change. _I really hope that things never change._

Teru called out to them as she spotted them walking through the door, "Saki. Please come here for a moment. Bring Nodoka with you." Her sister had finally arrived, and she was accompanied by Haramura Nodoka of course. They came over to where she was standing without a fuss. "Saki, I have set up a game for us. You can eat breakfast in a bit if you haven't already, but for now I'd really like for us to play." Saki nodded at that, but she hesitated and looked at her friend. Teru continued, "You can come if you want Nodoka, but I'm afraid your president has forbidden us from playing each other, so you will have to make do with watching."

Teru actually wanted Haramura Nodoka to watch the match as it was the closest to competitive conditions they could create for Saki. Usually in practise games Saki didn't mind losing nearly enough, whereas in competitive games Saki would do anything she could to get the victory for her team. It was too obvious to miss that having the pink-haired girl watch her play made Saki want to win.

Nodoka and Saki soon reached the Shiraitodai dorm where apparently the game was taking place. Nodoka frowned at that, it made no sense but she understood when they entered. The game was to be played between Saki, Miyanaga Teru, Oohoshi Awai and Ryuumonbuchi Touka. Ryuumonbuchi Touka had passed out shortly after playing them last time, and the Ryuumonbuchi team were conspicuous in their absence and were protective of their Touka.

Nodoka of course thought the whole thing was preposterous. _Why would she only pass out after playing strong players?_ _This whole 'cold Touka' she has come to be known as is also pretty silly._ Saki seemed oddly hesitant though. "Onee-san" she said quietly, "I don't think Ryuumonbuchi would be happy about this…"

Teru knew the risks associated with setting up such a game, but she wanted to play as many hanchan as possible with her, her sister, Awai and the Touka demon at full power as they could. Teru didn't know how she'd be able to win without the weaker opponents that were at the table in the first game. Attacking the Touka demon directly seemed to be nearly impossible. She had gotten the surprise of her life when she used her Shoumakyou on the girl, who became pretty much unstoppable if she felt like she was being humiliated.

It was not an accident that Teru had directly attacked her and only her in the first hanchan she played against her. In a competitive game Teru would have done everything in her power to prevent the girl from activating, but in a practise match it was worth deliberately activating her for the sole purpose of playing against a strong opponent, so activated her she had.

Setting this game up had proven challenging however. The girl with the star on her face seemed to know what Teru wanted, and was on high alert whenever she was in the same room as the Touka demon. She had gotten around that problem by sending in Tamaki, whose presence was far less conspicuous or threatening, to ask the Touka demon if she wanted to play mahjong quietly whilst Hajime wasn't next to her. Fortunately she had easily accepted.

There was also the problem of Awai's ability remaining hidden, but that problem solved itself. They were already holding the game in the Shiraitodai room, meaning they could control who was watching it and the Touka demon lost all her memories of when she was in her "cold Touka" state once she woke up from it. Ryuumonbuchi's Sawamura Tomoki had had no problem talking her ear off about it.

The other outsider present was Haramura Nodoka, but that girl was utterly dense when it came to Mahjong abilities. She still didn't even believe Saki had any super natural powers, and that was despite watching her play first-hand every time she had the chance. On the off-chance that Nodoka did somehow snap out of her delusion, she was pretty sure Saki could get her to promise to not tell anyone else about it, and Teru did not think Kiyosumi posed much of a threat either way.

There was only one hurdle left for Teru, and that was Saki herself. Her sister knew all about the Touka demon and Teru wouldn't have a chance of convincing her that she wouldn't pass out, and she was smart enough to notice the shady way this match was being set up. She had a plan though, and it was time to execute it.

"Saki" Teru began, "don't you think the person who knows Ryuumonbuchi Touka's capabilities and limits best is the girl herself? She's perfectly lucid; ask her yourself if she thinks she's in any kind of danger."

The Touka demon fortunately looked up at that and spoke for herself. "I most certainly am not in any danger, I'll have you know. How long exactly do you want to make me wait, by the way? I am Ryuumonbuchi Touka! Let's play already desu wa! Don't think I've forgotten about you either, Haramura Nodoka! A rematch is what we'll have! A rematch today desu wa!" Touka was already seated at the table. Saki simply nodded slowly in defeat and came over to the table to join them.

They were finally seated to play. Teru looked at Awai. She knew what was needed. They needed to attack Ryuumonbuchi Touka. This first hanchan was effectively a waste of time, there was no merit at all in playing against Touka without her demon form in Teru's mind. It was doubly true considering that Awai wouldn't even be able to use double riichi until she was activated.

Nodoka was not sure what the big deal was, or why Saki was so worried. She had been about to speak up in agreement with Miyanaga Teru but something in Saki's eyes had stopped her. She ended up solely watching Saki during the exchange with fascination. Saki was concerned about Ryuumonbuchi Touka. _Really concerned in fact, but why?_ Nodoka busied herself with making the four of them tea whilst they set up the first hand.

Teru quickly realised that she had overlooked a problem. The game started as planned, with Saki scoring off of Awai in the first round, pretty much as expected, and then Teru began winning every hand by directly hitting Touka. This was all fine, but it soon became clear that Saki was playing to protect the Touka demon. She started by played into her hand to stop Teru's dealership, and then later she dealt enough callable tiles to the Touka demon so that she was in tenpai by the 8th turn who then won by tsumo on the 9th, skipping several of Teru's turns in the process. Teru soon realised that Saki was playing +/- 0 again whilst propping the Touka demon up as much as she could.

She looked at Awai who nodded at her. They were both feeling the pressure, Saki was at full power. _I should have activated the Touka demon before we got her playing._ At the rate Saki was going Touka was not going to get activated. Saki was forcing her to land on 2nd or 3rd place comfortably ahead of Oohoshi Awai and a single big win wasn't enough to trigger the cold mode; it had to be successive wins. Apparently the Touka demon's brain perceived big one-off wins as luck based wins that weren't particularly humiliating, and lots of small and medium wins as being outplayed thus extremely humiliating.

The solution came from the unlikeliest of places. After the first hanchan ended with Saki at +/- 0, Haramura Nodoka bent down and told Saki off for playing that way. "Don't you realise that you are disrespecting your opponents?" she scolded, completely oblivious to the reasons Saki had for doing such a thing. Teru made a mental note to thank the heavens for Haramura Nodoka's density. She looked at Saki, who met Teru's gaze rather sadly. Teru was upset about that but felt this exercise was worth it; Saki hadn't been out of her comfort zone enough at the camp so far.

"Let's start" she said, before rolling the dice. She was the first dealer this time but she did not have to use her Shoumakyou.

Teru was leading the way with Saki in a pretty distant second when Touka finally activated her cold mode. Teru directly hit her every hand during her second dealer run, which Saki had been unable to put a stop to without winning herself with a tsumo. With Awai not actively helping and instead merely spectating it was too difficult for Saki and Touka to stop her win streaks quickly. Ironically it was Saki's own tsumo which turned out to be the final straw for the Touka demon, and Teru immediately felt the pressure. _Here we go._ She turned to Awai and nodded. _Use it._ She smiled frighteningly as she placed her riichi stick on the table next round on the first turn.

Saki was shaking, but with Nodoka there she should be able to turn it up as well. If Saki turned up the pressure, as Teru expected her to soon, the table would be near unbearable for people not used to it. Awai's pressure was far greater when she used double riichi, and Saki had the most pressure of any player Teru had played when she was in the mood in particular when she played for +/-0, and the Touka demon had amounts of pressure that rivalled Saki's best constantly in the state.

Teru did not fail to note that Haramura Nodoka did not even seem to notice anything amiss at all. It was always stronger for the players themselves, but spectators in close proximity like that usually felt something when it was high, and assuming that Saki would step it up at some point, the table's pressure would most likely be higher than any other that Teru had sat at. It was the reason why none of the other Shiraitodai players were present, despite being allowed and even encouraged to observe.

Nodoka seemed to be the exact opposite of Saki, who was particularly sensitive to that kind of pressure and even still found it hard to deal with despite playing against Awai and herself as often as she did.

Nodoka had watched with interest so far, and the games hadn't been too crazy, although she had to wonder about Miyanaga Teru's dealer win streaks and why she felt the need to slam down on the table with her hand during her later draws during a thing was not against the rules, and some players liked to intimidate others with such things. Even her own president had an awful habit of flipping tiles into the air and really slamming them down on tsumos, but Nodoka did not like any of it. _One should portray calmness and professionalism when playing mahjong, not any kind of barbarism like that._

Suddenly though the game did not resemble mahjong at all and seemed to all but totally defy logic. Oohoshi Awai was suddenly using double riichi every turn, which was just absurd, and despite that fact she wasn't even winning most hands. Teru would often directly hit her quickly, or Ryuumonbuchi Touka would get a massive tsumo extremely quickly. _Getting such expensive hands so often and so early is just absurd._

Eventually Nodoka had gotten into a position where she could watch both Ryuumonbuchi and Saki by just moving a few inches, and Touka's decisions were just crazy, perhaps even more so than Saki's. She would break melds and discard things that defied all common sense, and would riichi on awful waits only to get ippatsu tsumo almost every time. In fact Nodoka was pretty sure the only times it didn't result in ippatsu tsumo was when Saki or Teru called a tile before her turn came up again. She sighed and gave up on following Ryuumonbuchi Touka almost out of irritation at her luck and just sat with Saki instead.

Teru won the first and the second hanchan but only placed second in the third, with the Touka demon winning that one after hitting Awai to negative. Saki had taken second place in the first two hanchan and third in the third hanchan. Teru realised her win streaks were not long enough with these players to get the points required to hold out against the massive hands Saki and the Touka demon were able to produce. Awai was just getting slaughtered, barely ever getting far enough in the wall to get her kan at all and Saki was also struggling to call Kan very often. "Let's go again."

Haramura Nodoka was knelt down next to Saki and was holding her hand whilst she was playing, and Saki seemed to be whispering what she was thinking to her occasionally. As dense as the large chested girl was she was undeniably good for her sister. Teru made a mental note to redouble her efforts at a later date to get her to move to west Tokyo. It also turned out that the girl was actually far more competent at mahjong than Teru would have imagined, seeming to have a useful anti-demon ability. _Maybe that's why Saki had so much fun against her at the inter-middle school championship. _

"Riichi" Oohoshi Awai again called out. _Normal players don't stand a chance against Awai, but Saki and this Touka demon know how to win against it._ It wasn't always true that Saki could beat Awai's double riichi, but Saki improved at dealing with Awai's abilities far more over time than the opposite way around. It wasn't the first time Teru wondered how she could improve Awai so that she could be more of a threat to the types of players that made up the current table. Even when the girl was beating Saki, which was years ago now, it was largely because Saki was so terrified of her pressure when she used it.

She thought about suggesting that she not riichi, but without riichi she would have no way to win as she relied on the riichi for her yaku, never getting a second yaku in her opening hand. It was the kan dora that improved her hand's value and made her fearsome against players who were a tier or two below Teru.

There was always the possibility that Awai could, instead of declaring it on the first turn, simply use riichi as she neared the corner of the wall after she called her kan, and go for riichi ippatsu instead of double-riichi which would be worth two han overall as well. Teru wasn't positive that was a good idea either however. Whilst it would do wonders for her defense, Monster level players would soon know the girl could not possibly ron them during that time and would be able to play extremely aggressively until she declared riichi, and the fear and intimidation were big factors against normal players and monsters alike.

She supposed simply trying to force the double riichi through at this table might be good practise to strengthen her control, but it was hard to know how to improve that particular aspect of one's play. Teru thought her own control had become stronger over time, and she certainly knew how to use it better than she did in the past. Saki was also like that, who had become fearsomely good at stopping her win streaks, and Saki only rarely declared late kans against her anymore. Not on number tiles at least out of fear of Teru's ability to make waits based on any early pons Saki might make.

In Teru's mind Saki posed the only threat to a repeat win of the individual championships. Even in the final last year, she never had a doubt of her victory. Satoha and Kei in particular were amazing players, and whilst they were able to stop her win streaks faster than most people, they couldn't do it quickly enough to prevent her from dominating the score.

Saki was different, though. It wasn't the first time Saki had halted her in her tracks before she had won even a single dealer repeat when she had done it in their first competitive game together. She genuinely enjoyed the games against her sister, even when she was going for +/- 0. She had been especially upset that she had not bailed against her in their competitive match at the individuals, partially just because Saki was the only one who so far could actually force her to bail with any kind of consistency, meaning it would likely not have been that big a deal if she did it, but also because she wanted to see what her sister would have done if she had. Even the Touka demon hadn't forced her to bail so far, as she won by tsumo nearly every time. She had directly hit Awai a few times and had even landed one or two on Saki, but Teru was able to evade her almost disappointingly easily.

It was the 3rd hand of the east round of a new hanchan, and the score was very close. Last place and first place were only separated by 7,000 points. Nodoka was watching intently and to her surprise, it was Miyanaga Teru who was the player in last, with Oohoshi Awai in first place, who managed to win a hand with 4 kan dora for a big dealer win early into the hand. It really was a lucky hand for the girl, _4 kan dora, double riichi and winning by the third turn with a self-draw?_ Nodoka wasn't sure she could believe that kind of luck. Saki was currently in 2nd, with Ryuumonbuchi Touka in 3rd place.

Nodoka was still in disarray as regards to Oohoshi Awai's ridiculous luck, but she supposed there might be a problem with the table, or maybe she was just declaring riichi on hands that weren't necessarily in tenpai deliberately to confuse them. That was of course against the rules, but Nodoka realised over time that friends who played together could do this kind of thing for fun sometimes, with no resulting tension. There were also players who would declare riichi on no-ten hands in real matches as a psychological weapon, but if the round ended in a draw the player would have to pay a lot of points for the breach of rules. Nodoka's personal opinion was that it was never worth the risk.

Teru was not concerned with her predicament of being in last place. She was the final dealer, meaning she had two big chances to make up the victory. She was going to win this hand, too. Awai discarded a 3 pin and looked mournfully up at Teru. _This girl's Riichi is easily the biggest weakness on the table._

"Ron" she said. "1000." With the riichi stick from Awai, she overtook the Touka demon leaving her in last place for the first time since she had been activated, and Saki climbed into first, also a first since the very first hand they had played. Teru took a look at her sister, whose eyes locked with her own. Teru thought she had had the exact same thought. _Let's take her down Saki._ She let out a rare smile and discarded.

Winning hand- 2W 3W 4W 4P 5P 9P 9P 5S 6S 6S 7S 7S 8S (3P)

Dora Indicator(s): Nan

Yaku: Pinfu

It wasn't long before Teru was tenpai, but she held herself back. In two turns the Touka demon declared Riichi. Teru nodded at Saki and discarded a 3-pin.

"Kan!" she said, smiling back at Teru and whispering into Nodoka's ear. She then discarded a haku.

"Pon" Teru called. _Now we just wait._

"Ron" Teru announced when the Touka demon discarded her needed tile. "2000."

Winning hand- 6W 6W 6W 7W 7W 6S 7S 8S Nan Nan [Haku Haku Haku] (7W)

Dora Indicator(s): Nan, 5S

Yaku: Yakuhai

The Touka demon gave her the sticks without a word, but Teru was pleased. Whilst it wasn't really useful practise, she didn't think she would have fun like this with her sister today. _If we just wait for the Touka demon to riichi like she always does we can directly hit her again._ She looked over at her sister. _Let's try it again._ Saki nodded at her and bent down almost automatically to tell Nodoka about it.

It was the 8th turn when the Touka demon declared riichi. "chi" Saki called on her discard, dealing a 3-sou she knew Teru needed.

"Pon." She discarded a chun she had held back deliberately precisely for her sister's set.

"Kan." Saki announced. "Once more, Kan." She placed down the tile that ensured their victory.

"Ron." Teru announced when the Touka demon discarded her tile. Teru only had enough han to increase her score enough for her win streak because of her sister's Kan giving her dora again, as she and her sister both knew she would. "5800 please."

Winning hand- 2W 3W 4W 4W 6W 4P 4P 6S 7S 8S [3S 3S 3S] (5W)

Dora Indicator(s): Hatsu, 1W, 7S

Yaku: Tanyao

_I wonder if the demon will stop going for riichi now. It would be more fun to try and stop her without it. _It was the 11th turn in the next round however when she went for it again and Saki pounced on it without hesitating. "Pon." She called on the 6-pin and then she quickly whispered what she was doing to the girl next to her again, which Teru did not fail to note. She wondered what was going through Nodoka's mind, and she certainly seemed to be impressed, staring wide eyed at Teru when she discarded Saki's needed 4-pin.

"Kan" Saki said easily. "And once more, kan!" she had a big smile on her face now, adding the 6-pin to her pon-meld making a late kan in addition to her 4-pins. She discarded the tile for Teru, "Pon" Teru called easily. The hanchan would be her sister's.

"Kan" Saki called when Touka inevitably discarded the 8-pin. "Tsumo. Chinitsu, tanyao, sankantsu, toitoi, 2 red dora and rinshan Kaihou. That's 32000 with the 'responsible one pays' rule. 32900 with the win bonus." The total winnings were actually 34900 with both Awai's and the Touka demon's riichi sticks as well, and it meant the Touka demon was firmly in the negatives, ending the round with Saki miles out in first place.

Teru sat back, satisfied. Even if it wasn't training in the strictest sense, it was fun to play with her sister like this again. They hadn't had an opponent since they were still new to mahjong where either of them thought it was necessary to play like this, but it had come back easily to her, and apparently to her sister as well. _I didn't think I would ever have this much fun in a practise match again. If we could just convince her somehow to stop declaring riichi, it could be a real training exercise, trying to directly hit her. _It would be far too easy to beat the Touka demon if wanted to win by tsumos whilst working together, but attempting to hit her with direct hits when she had choice of her own discards would be useful training.

Winning hand- 5P 7P 7P 7P [4P 4P 4P 4P] [6P 6P 6P 6P] [8P 8P 8P 8P] (5P)

Dora indicator(s) 1P, Nan, 3S, 9W

Yakuhai: Tsumo, Chinitsu, Tanyao, Sankantsu, Toitoi, Rinshan Kaihou

Nodoka watched in awe as the two sisters worked together. _I don't think there's any way to defeat them like this._ Nodoka had to admit Saki and her sister must be able to read discards better than her, because they seemed to have the knack of just knowing tiles they could deal that would be called, but those tiles never seemed to be won off unless that's what they wanted to happen. It had not even occurred to Nodoka prior to watching this match that two players could work together in such a fashion.

"You are… incredible Saki-san. Really, just incredible" she told the girl truthfully in a whisper. Saki didn't respond in words and just laughed and blushed instead, but Nodoka enjoyed that response just fine. She also enjoyed watching the girl playing with the smile that was on her face and it was not just the beauty of her smile, but was also in knowing the girl was really enjoying her mahjong now. The girl's bored face during the first hanchan of their match together was little more than a memory.

Upon the first hand in the next hanchan however Saki suddenly started gripping her hand a bit too tightly, and her smile vanished from her face. _Huh? Why is she suddenly so tense? _Nodoka placed her free hand on Saki's and gently massaged the hand that was gripping her hand more and more tightly to the point where Nodoka thought it might even leave a mark if she kept it up much longer.

"Saki-san" she whispered, "what's wrong?" Saki just kept staring at Ryuumonbuchi Touka, and did not relax her grip or her gaze and did not speak a word. Nodoka watched in silence as Ryuumonbuchi Touka picked up a tile on the fourth turn and knocked over her tiles, without even looking at her new tile.

"Tsumo. Kokushi Musou. 8200, 16200 points please" she said in the same oddly robotic tone she had used since the second hanchan. _Yakuman? On the fourth turn? _Whilst that was incredibly lucky, she had more important things to worry about.

"Saki-san" she tried, "Are you okay?" Saki seemed to realise what she was doing, and relaxed her grip and turned to face Nodoka.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" She released Nodoka's hand, and sounded upset, "did I hurt you?"

"No" Nodoka lied, "don't worry about it." _What on earth was that about?_

Winning hand- 1W 9W 1P 9P 1S Pei Xia Nan Ton Ton Haku Hatsu Chun (9S)

Dora indicator(s): Xia

Yaku: Kokushi Musou

Teru noticed Saki tense up as well, and was not surprised. Working together, Teru and her sister had finally managed to directly hit the Touka demon, and they had done it effectively enough to hit her to negatives, but as a result she had let out ridiculous pressure in the next hanchan, and had defeated her win streak before she had even won a single hand without even calling a tile at all. That had never happened before against anyone, and it was with a Yakuman at that_. Awai and Saki are terrified. We need to play this girl more._ Teru was hit hard by the hand, and was firmly last place. _Is this what happens when she is feeling humiliated when in her demon mode? My Shoumakyou showed nothing like that; I need to use it again._

Teru was genuinely surprised. She was no stranger to needing to use her Shoumakyou to look at players even for a second time or more. Her sister and Awai were prime examples of players who she needed to look at again and again. Even players with far less scary abilities would change over time forcing her to use it more than once such as Sumire, and there were also players who changed enough during the game itself to defy it simply because they had changed due to how badly they were losing. But she had only just used it on this demon, and said demon was winning a lot.

In the next hand both Saki and Awai looked up at her in surprise when she used it again, giving up any chance of a victory in that hand. _So it is true._ The Touka demon had indeed changed even further. The girl really did not like humiliation at all. If she felt like she was being humiliated whilst in her cold mode she became stronger, even stronger than she was already. She could only maintain the mode for a single turn however. _Interesting. _

In a real game it would be a simple case of feeding her points every now and again to keep her from triggering, meaning the girl wasn't a threat to her or her sister at the very least. It would be different for the medium to strong players that lay in-between however, who could easily accidentally and unknowingly trigger the demon and would fully suffer the consequences. Teru thought that Nodoka was likely one such player who might fit into that category.

They quit playing after that. Teru had taken the win in the first and second hanchan, The Touka demon won the third and the fifth and Saki had taken the fourth with her Kazoe Yakuman. Awai was in dead last every round besides the round where the Touka demon scored the Kokushi Musou. Saki fell apart after that and finished the hanchan last although she recovered surprisingly fast and played well enough in the later hands to survive without going down to negatives.

Teru thought she knew why she was able to recover so fast as well. Teru was also impressed that she didn't just go back to +/- 0, and the reason she hadn't was likely the same. Haramura Nodoka hadn't missed a beat when Saki was began playing badly and seemed to know exactly what to whisper to the girl to bring her back to normal, and she was even smiling in the last hand even though Teru was the one who won it.

Teru was remiss with the way she had impulsively tried to get Nodoka to play in front of everyone, which she was now sure was a mistake. Even Saki was likely to be happier if she had managed to set up a game between herself, maybe Awai, Saki and Nodoka. If she had just waited until the girl was isolated from her president she was confident she would have been able to coax her into a match.

Teru actually wanted to play more, mainly to see if she could work with Saki to stop the demon when she started doing that, but that was clearly not going to be possible. Saki still looked slightly upset, even though Haramura Nodoka was with her, and she felt like the girl needed to get some breakfast. That wasn't the reason why they wouldn't be able to play however; the Touka demon looked worn somehow and Teru didn't think Saki would ever agree to play on with her looking like that. _Maybe it's that new thing she did._

"Let's call it a day" she told them. "Good game everyone. That was definitely interesting." Saki did not respond and was instead looking at Touka with concern in her eyes. She was extremely pale to say the least. Saki screamed in surprise when she fell sideways out of her seat, out cold. Saki desperately tried to catch her but failed in all but managing to keep her head from hitting the ground.

Teru was genuinely worried. The Touka demon had passed out after their earlier game but that time she had been able to move around for a good while before she had just simply lain down in her bed almost on auto-pilot. She helped Saki and Nodoka pick the girl up and place her in Saki's futon, whilst Awai went to get the players from Ryuumonbuchi. Teru knew there was going to be trouble, and so forced Haramura Nodoka to leave and take Saki with her. They resisted at first but it wasn't hard to convince Nodoka to leave after a brief conversation. Saki was still hesitant, but followed Nodoka out of the room. It was enough for one morning, and they hadn't even eaten breakfast yet.

* * *

**Note: Ryuumonbuchi Touka's cold mode is slightly different here than in the manga. I apologize for that.  
**


	12. Chapter 12 - Regret

**Chapter 12 - Regret**

**Note: I regret deciding to name chapters in the first place.**

* * *

It was a nice day so Nodoka suggested they eat breakfast outside. Saki just nodded quietly and followed her outside. Saki remained extremely quiet as they ate and Nodoka was concerned about her. She was plainly worried about Ryuumonbuchi Touka, but it was more than that. Saki felt guilty, too. She couldn't understand that at all, and so spoke up.

"Saki-san," She started after finishing eating what was in her mouth, "It wasn't your fault. She's a young, healthy girl who plays mahjong all the time. It's just an unfortunate coincidence."

Saki was unconvinced. "I'm not sure about that, N-Nodoka-chan…" _Saki-san is…fighting back tears…_ Nodoka felt her heart twinge in pain.

_"_Saki-san… please don't cry... It's so painful to see you sad." She put down her rice ball and placed her plate next to where she was sitting. She moved over to seat herself directly next to the poor girl, picked up her hand in her own and did her best to comfort her. "Saki-san it's okay. She's going to be okay, she woke up and was fine last time, remember?" Saki nodded at that, and sniffed. Nodoka smiled at her, "How about we go visit her to see how she's doing after we finish our breakfast?"

Saki nodded at that, "I'd like that. Thank you Nodoka-chan." She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

Teru stood silently as the girl with the star sticker on her face shouted at her. It was getting awkward. Teru knew she was in the wrong but this audience that was mainly made up of a few Ryuumonbuchi students and most of the Shiraitodai students including Awai and Sumire made things less than ideal.

Teru hadn't paid much attention to the girl for a while, but she was aware at least that she was still being shouted at. She focused her attention on the girl now. "You knew! Moreover you did it because you knew!" she was shouting, "Just because you are a champion mahjong player doesn't mean you can do this kind of thing! It's not normal and it's not nice!" She paused, but only for a breath as far as Teru could tell. "You knew she would pass out, you already saw her do it yesterday! How would you feel if someone did the same thing to you?"

"You are right. I hope you will accept my apologies, I went too far" she said calmly, which seemed to infuriate the girl further. Teru was fully aware that she might be better off if she attempted to sound more emotional, but doing such a thing was not something she liked to do, and it was fair to say that Saki outright hated it when she did it.

The girl whose name eluded Teru seemed like she had a lot more to say on the subject. "You are not sorry, not one bit! Nothing matters as long as you get some strong opposition, right?" she shouted. Teru was pretty sure people would be able to hear the girl shouting out in the hall if she kept this volume up.

Teru responded politely, "No. I assure you I was extremely concerned and shocked when she collapsed. We did everything we could to make her comfortable."

The girl was still not satisfied; even though Teru was sure she had said the right thing. "That's right; it was "we" wasn't it? I want to know exactly who it was who played. As far as I know all of you Shiraitodais already knew about what happens when Touka activates, and no doubt they knew that it was your intention all along to trigger her cold mode deliberately. You people should know better!" Teru sighed. She was supposed to be calming down, not getting more agitated. She stayed quiet; she would not betray Awai and certainly not her sister. Saki did not deserve any of the blame in this, and was in fact a victim as well.

The loud girl honed right in on that, "Your sister I bet. You wanted her to play against her yesterday even. I thought she was supposed to be a nice girl, yet she was there and she knew what would happen."

Teru shook her head. "No you have it wrong. Saki has nothing to do with this" she stated clearly. "We had Touka's full consent before playing, and even made sure to question her about whether or not she was okay to play."

"Oh I'm sure you had the best of intentions for Touka's wellbeing." A scathing, sarcastic response. It was a shame really. If this girl had attacked Awai or Sumire with this rant she might have gotten somewhere, and she definitely would have succeeded in bothering her sister, but Teru was finding it hard to even keep concentrating on this loud and relentless girl.

She decided to end it here, she had listened for long enough to keep up appearances. "Mahjong is not a physical sport; I'm not sure what precautions you expect us to take. If you have any other complaints, our coach's contact information can be found on our school's website and she will listen to any formal complaints you have." Teru knew it might be seen as cruel, but she was tired of standing there and she wanted to leave.

No formal complaints would be made. How exactly would a complaint about "deliberately activating a demon" sound? This meant Teru was fairly safe regardless of what this girl wanted to do, so Teru continued in that frame of mind," I think it would be more suitable to talk about what you want to do with Ryuumonbuchi Touka herself, whether you want to move her from Saki's futon or not. We are able to lend it to her for the night if that's agreeable."

The girl glared at her for a while, looking so angry to the point where she looked like she might even hit her for a moment, but in the end she stormed past her towards Touka without responding. Teru took the chance to leave the room in search of Saki. _Saki and I need to stay away from the Shiraitodai room for the rest of the day_. Teru sighed. The match as interesting for Teru as it had been almost wasn't worth this bother. She went in the direction of the breakfast area.

Nodoka led Saki by the hand back into the main building once they had finished breakfast. She found the president and decided it would be a good idea to inform her of what had happened.

"Oh wow. Your sister really likes to play rough" she told Saki.

Nodoka was confused by that. "What do you mean, president? It's not like she could have predicted that she would pass out from a simple game of Mahjong." The president just laughed at that, and Nodoka felt Saki's grip tense up again. "I don't understand why that is funny" she told the president.

"Will she be okay?" she asked, addressing Saki who just nodded mumbled what sounded like "probably" all the while looking down at her feet.

"Please excuse us president," Nodoka informed her. "We are going to go and see how she's doing right now if that's okay."

"Yes no problem" she responded easily, then quickly added, "But Nodoka, make sure you go with her." Nodoka did not understand that at all, but Saki seemed like she knew, and for once led the way for Nodoka. It did not take long to reach the Shiraitodai room, but for some reason Saki paused outside before going in. Saki looked particularly nervous and Nodoka was not sure for what reason.

Nodoka squeezed her hand, "She will be okay, don't worry Saki. I'll be there with you." Saki nodded at that and opened the door.

They went into the room, to find it nearly empty and very dark. Only Hajime and Inoue Jun were there, and were evidently talking about something pretty serious when Saki opened the door. They immediately fell silent, and seemed to be staring pretty intently at Saki. Nodoka closed the door behind them and moved with Saki towards where Touka was sleeping.

Nodoka was the first to speak, but she was finding it difficult due to the tension in the room. Nodoka wasn't one to believe in superstition, but the atmosphere was clearly very heavy with the way the two Ryuumonbuchi girls were staring at them. "Please excuse the intrusion" she began cautiously, "we came to see how Ryuumonbuchi Touka-san is doing." They didn't respond, and instead just looked at her as if she was stupid. "That is, if that's okay with you" she added rather awkwardly.

Hajime turned and looked at Saki. "You have some nerve to come here, Miyanaga-san. You knew this would happen." She gestured at the sleeping girl.

That was just ridiculous. _To blame this sweet girl for something like that…_ Nodoka wasn't about to accept that lying down. "How would she know that it was going to happen?" she demanded angrily, "The girl has played mahjong before, and as far as we know she is perfectly healthy. I understand you are worried about your friend but do not blame Saki-san." She looked back at Saki when she stayed quiet, but when she noticed Saki's condition Nodoka's heart thumped uncomfortably against her chest. _Why are you crying, Saki-san? _

"I'm sorry" Saki told them. "I'm so sorry" she repeated, still crying.

Nodoka could not help herself. Her hand balled unconsciously into a fist around her lower yukata as she almost frantically she addressed the girl at her side. _Those others do not matter now._ "Why are you apologizing? Saki-san? Why?! It's not your fault! It's not! I won't let you say that it is!"

Saki gave her such a beautiful and sad smile that Nodoka's heart nearly broke in her chest. "Nodoka-chan… it's okay. I deserve to be scolded for this. I should have refused to play."

"But why Saki-san?" Ridiculously, Nodoka found herself crying as well, "You didn't do anything wrong… You shouldn't put yourself down like this…"

"Just trust me, okay?" She released Nodoka's hand. Saki walked towards where Hajime and Jun were standing, who was watching her curiously. Saki knelt on the ground in front of them and placed her head on the floor. "I am so sorry-"

Nodoka did not let her get any further. "No Saki-san, stop! Right now!" she said harshly, kneeling down in front of the girl, deliberately placing herself between Saki and the cruel bullies of Ryuumonbuchi. She had not let her hesitation last long when she realised what Saki intended to do. There was no way she was about to allow it.

Saki looked up, "Nodoka-cha…" But even the way she said her name was so much weaker, and so much more delicate than normal. The girl was absolutely distraught and it was crushing Nodoka to see it, but she could not let her guard down now.

"Don't say anything Saki-san. Please just come with me. You have to trust me this time."

Saki seemed to get the message, but nearly fell over on her first attempt to get up, and suddenly she was sobbing badly.

Nodoka's stoic stance broke then. "Oh my god Saki-san…" she cried, tears falling down her own face now. "Please…" She picked Saki up in her arms, her delicate body trembling in her grasp. She had never hated anyone as much in her life as this bitch with the stupid star sticker plastered on her face and the big gangly idiot next to her. They had just stood there the entire time watching in silence. _Don't they have any heart at all?_

Nodoka whispered soothingly to Saki, "Shh, it's over. Let's get out of here, okay? I shouldn't have let you come here, I'm so sorry." She placed Saki's arm over her head and half carried her out. She shot Ryuumonbuchi one last glare over her shoulder before she left with Saki. She took Saki out through the lobby and back outside, tears streaming down both of their faces. She did her best to avoid the people up and about. Saki didn't deserve to be seen in such a state, and Nodoka would do everything she could to protect the girl now.

Eventually they were out of sight of the building, and Saki never said a word and simply sobbed into Nodoka's shoulder. _Why did you take the blame on yourself Saki-san? Why did you do that? You are working too hard. _Saki quietly cried into Nodoka's shoulder as she patted her.

"Saki-san, why did you let yourself get hurt like that? Don't you realise how wonderful and kind you are? Don't you realise how painful it is for me and your sister and everyone else who cares so much about you to watch you when you are sad or upset?" She was still sobbing into Nodoka's shoulder as Nodoka said these things to her. One thing Nodoka knew was that she would never hurt this girl. Not if she could help it. "You shouldn't have done that… Saki-san you shouldn't have. You didn't deserve the blame you took on yourself, you didn't. I won't let anyone get away lightly if they suggest otherwise. Not even you."

They stayed like that for a long while. Nodoka waited and gently stroked the sobbing girl's hair, if for no other reason than she remembered a certain girl caring for her like this, and how comforting it had been having her hair stroked, how nice it had been to be cared for. She realised how deeply seeing Saki hurt had hurt Nodoka herself and Nodoka knew she was madly in love with her, and the least she could do for the girl she loved was be there for her now, when she needed her.

Nodoka was still hugging Saki closely to her shoulder when she realised someone was approaching. She gently gestured to her so that Saki knew. The girl was recovered enough by that point to look up.

Miyanaga Teru began, her stare cold, "You went back to the Shiraitodai room." She sounded normal, but she also seemed angry. It wasn't in her voice, but her demeanour. It had the effect such that she came across as absolutely livid and somehow calm at the same time. Nodoka thought that the combination was particularly unnerving and the girl addressed Nodoka first. "What happened? Why did you let her go?" she asked, unflinchingly staring at Nodoka.

"I was… under the impression that we were just going to see how she was… I don't think I should be the one telling you what happened, however, and Saki-san is a little upset so perhaps she should talk to you about it later if she feels-"

"That's okay Nodoka-chan" she interrupted, "Thank you for taking care of me." She turned to her sister, "I just… I needed to apologise to Ryuumonbuchi… I… I… I tried to…" she stopped and turned to Nodoka then, "Please tell Onee-chan Nodoka-chan… I'm sorry… I can't say it. Don't worry about… you can say it…" She looked down, red-faced and upset.

"Are you sure, Saki-san?"

She simply nodded, still facing downwards.

"Okay then. You don't have to force yourself." She turned to Miyanaga Teru, "She attempted… she attempted a kneeling bow… she even had her head on the ground…" She turned back to Saki, "I couldn't believe my eyes Saki-san… I really couldn't... I'd never have let you go if I knew you were going to do that."

Miyanaga Teru seemed to accept that. "You really shouldn't have done it Saki, they didn't deserve it. They aren't brave enough to tell that girl they are worried about that ability, and your apology did nothing for her either. They let her play against me once already despite knowing the risks and it's obviously happened before. Often enough that they know she passes out and that it isn't very dangerous or at least that it hasn't done any lasting damage to her.

It has never happened like that either, so we couldn't have known that would happen. I hope you don't think that I knew she would collapse like that Saki. I thought that at most she would simply lie back down in a bed as before." Teru paused and looked at Saki for a moment before continuing, "You also know well enough that it was I who engineered that game. You had nothing to do with it. Apologizing to them in such a way was a stupid thing to do."

"I know… You are right Onee-chan. Nodoka-chan already convinced me that I was silly to do that… but I couldn't help it… I knew she would collapse Onee-chan…I just knew it." Saki looked up at her sister. "Please, Onee-chan. Please don't retaliate. I'm fine."

"… Okay." Teru looked at Nodoka. "Please continue to look after her. I'm glad she didn't go there alone, at least." Teru turned and walked back the way she came.

Nodoka stopped her, "Miyanaga Teru-san" she called. She whispered to Saki, "I'll be right back" before getting up and walking after the sister.

Teru regarded her with her normal expression. Nodoka addressed her calmly, "Do many people know what happened? I thought we hadn't been spotted by anyone on our way out, but if you already know then-"

Teru very slightly shook her head, "Awai saw you helping her out of the hall, but as far as I can tell not many people saw."

Nodoka let out an unbidden sigh of relief, "Thank goodness… Thank you, Miyanaga Teru-san."

"No problem" she turned and left.

Nodoka ran back to Saki to hug her in her arms. After a few minutes she whispered softly to the girl, "She is right you know. Even if that superstitious nonsense really was real, it wasn't your fault." Saki looked up at that, and was suddenly smiling brightly at Nodoka. Nodoka turned away before her blush was seen, "I don't understand what it is that I said, frankly" she said sternly, but that dissuade the girl's smile at all.

"Thank you, Nodoka-chan" she said simply.

Nodoka turned back to the girl at that, "Pardon?" she couldn't help but ask.

"For looking after me… I really… needed it and thank you… Thank you for stopping me."

Nodoka smiled involuntarily at that. "No problem at all, Saki-san. Feel like going back?" she asked cautiously. Saki seemed to have recovered but Nodoka didn't want to rush the girl.

Saki shook her head. "Can we go sit somewhere for a while?" Nodoka nodded and led her by the hand to a grassy area connected to the side of the building they were just inside. The ordeal had apparently exhausted Saki, who ended up sleeping with her head on Nodoka's lap, with Nodoka's back propped up against the wall of the main building. Nodoka herself found herself staring down at the sleeping Saki for a good long while. She just sat there, playing with her hair and stroking her face with the backs of her fingers.

Nodoka thought about the things Miyanaga Teru had said as she sat there. She had never heard the girl talk for so long or so animatedly, displaying an intensity that seemed at odds with the girl's nature. She had heard the girl speaking for surprisingly long periods before, but on her previous bouts of talking (which all seemed to be about Saki) she had always seemed extremely calm. That was not the case today.

She wondered what Saki meant by retaliation and why Miyanaga Teru did not respond as if that were an absurd notion, instead merely agreeing not to. _Would she have done something to those Ryuumonbuchi girls if Saki-san hadn't asked that? Has she done something like that before?_ She was still stroking the sleeping girl's face and pondering those things when she eventually drifted off into a light snooze herself.

Nodoka awoke slowly, feeling surprisingly relaxed and refreshed. That was about to change however. Saki was already awake, and when Nodoka opened her eyes she found that the girl's face was so close to her own that their noses were almost touching. More worryingly the girl was smiling at something. "Saki-san…?" she asked groggily.

"Welcome back Nodoka-chan, I hope you had a good sleep… I was the one who… I k-kissed you… I kissed you whilst you were sleeping."

Nodoka, fully awake now, stared at the girl in front of her, and upon realising the position they were in and what the girl had just said her face burned red. Nodoka was still sat with her legs outstretched and her back leaning against the wall but Saki was not in her original position with her head on Nodoka's lap at all. She was sat side by side with her, but she was hugging Nodoka with her arms around her neck, and she was all too aware of how close their bodies were. _Oh my god… she kissed me whilst I was asleep!_

Saki was smiling brightly at her as she woke up, but once Nodoka turned her gaze upon her she seemed to somehow lose her confidence. "Oh I'm… I'm sorry Nodoka-chan. I-I thought… F-For some reason I thought it would be okay… I just wanted to surprise you. I'm really…"

When Saki made to get up Nodoka gently stayed her with a hand on her arm, "Saki-san… It's fine. Why are you suddenly so afraid? This was… I am…" Nodoka sighed; the words were so hard to come by with Saki so close to her. She looked away, embarrassed at what she was about to say, but she was determined to say it, "It was… Erm… It was a wonderful way to wake up… really… Thank you."

"R-Really?" Saki asked, still tentative. She was looking down at her hand that had found its way into Nodoka's own.

"I… I liked it… and it wouldn't be fair if…" Nodoka sighed. _I'm no good at this kind of thing Saki-san… _She cleared her throat and tried again. "I k-kissed you when… I thought you were asleep so…" she tried, but couldn't get any further and instead just hoped the girl understood what she was trying to say.

Saki looked up at her when she finished, and Nodoka found herself drawn to the girl's eyes. _This sure is nice… Her eyes… that tint of red… She's so beautiful… _They spent upwards of a minute like that, staring into each other's eyes. It always felt exciting staring into her eyes like that, at least partly because of the knowledge that the girl was staring back at her as well. When Nodoka realised what they were doing she averted her eyes out of embarrassment. _I really am so childish… That was so nice and I just went and ruined it… _

Saki, who judging by the redness of her face seemed to be nearly as embarrassed as she was, spoke up in a small voice, "I kissed you more than once… You were just so… so beautiful… I'm sorry- I couldn't help it… "

Nodoka looked up at that, startled. _Oh my god… she actually said something like that… wait… could it be…?_ Sure enough Saki was watching her. Her face was still facing downwards, and her cheeks were still red but she was clearly watching Nodoka out of the corner of her eye. _She's doing it deliberately. She's trying to make me blush, and she's succeeding. This girl drives me absolutely crazy._ Nodoka tried to turn away from Saki, but that was just impossible given the positions they were in.

"Stop trying to make me embarrassed, Saki-san" Nodoka scolded, but her heart wasn't in it. She couldn't help but feel happy about the idea that Saki liked watching her blush.

She scratched her head and apologised at that. "I'm sorry," She said, using a similarly casual tone, but she then became oddly serious. "Let me know if I go too far, okay Nodoka-chan?"

"I don't think that's possible, Saki-san" Nodoka told her without hesitation. _Oh my god… why would I say such a stupid thing?_ "Erm I didn't mean…. Please forget I said that!" Saki didn't laugh at her however, and simply smiled instead. It was the smile that always put Nodoka at ease, regardless of what she was smiling at.

Saki made her way to her feat, and held out her hand to help Nodoka up. "Shall we go back?" she asked.

"Okay," Nodoka started, attempting to regain her composure, "Only if you are sure you are okay to go back."

Saki stopped smiling quite abruptly at that, remembering what had happened. Nodoka inwardly cursed herself for saying it. "I will be okay, Nodoka-chan, as long as you are there with me."

_Lines like that are not good for my heart, Saki-san._ She couldn't bring herself to respond in words to that so instead just nodded, and when Saki didn't hesitate when she reached out to place her small delicate hand in her own she blushed even harder. She made her way back to the hall with the girl, blush and all

Fortunately, no one really paid much mind to Nodoka and the girl she was holding hands with as they entered the hall. Quickly enough someone approached them about a game, and did such in a manner that seemed natural. The girls who had approached them were girls from Kazekoshi all-girls school. One of them was a very large girl named Sumiyo Fukubori and the other was the small girl that Nodoka had played in the final of the team championship, Ikeda Kana. They quickly agreed that Saki would play and Nodoka would watch and they went and got to it. _I wish I could play with them as well. I wish I could play against her._

Nodoka watched Saki play with her usual interest, but was lost in thought mid-way through the game. People always chose to play against Saki over herself when given the choice so far at the camp, but Nodoka preferred it that way. This way she was able to watch Saki, and hold her hand whilst she played. Saki even tried playing whilst holding Etopen at one point, at her own behest. Nodoka hadn't been able to calm down whilst watching that spectacle, but it tickled her to see it all the same, and Saki had been cutely embarrassed when Oohoshi Awai and the Shiraitodai substitute named Seiko Matano noticed her playing with it, teasing her about it.

Sometimes when Saki played she explained to Nodoka what she was thinking, and Nodoka enjoyed watching those games in particular. She had sat in silent wonder when watching her earlier in her match against her sister and Ryuumonbuchi Touka, and she was always in awe when she watched the girl play, but her thought process was definitely strange. She would discard tiles just to have them called in order to end dealerships; and she would often bypass other players play styles via these calls as well, whatever that meant.

One time on the previous day she said that she was going to declare kan to improve the value of another players' hand because Tsuruga's Yumi, another of the girls Nodoka had played in the final of the team tournament, was probably going to deal into her. The Tsuruga girl was in Riichi and was even the dealer at the time, and sure enough the player Saki pointed out had won with a direct hit on her, and her small hand had become a mangan thanks to Saki's kan. Nodoka had almost fainted at that;_ how can she be so unbelievably lucky? _More often than not, Saki would play silently however, and Nodoka didn't mind. She wasn't going to force or pressure Saki to do anything she didn't want to or feel like doing, and it's not like she didn't enjoy watching those games as well.

However, during the fun of the mahjong camp there was an unmistakeable shadow. It was a shadow of the headman's axe hanging over their heads, and it bothered Nodoka more than she would have liked. It had been in the back of her mind for a while now thanks to her conversation with the president, and now the time she had been dreading was almost here. She would have to separate from Saki on the following day. _3 PM. Saki has to leave at 3 PM tomorrow._ Nodoka didn't want to think about that, not one bit. She realised now that the president was absolutely right. It was hard the first time they separated, and it was even harder staying separated after that. _Separating this time will be…_

She pushed the thought out of her mind and forced herself to focus on the mahjong in front of her. Saki had 4 Chun tiles in her set, but was holding them back. _She's actually deliberately going for rinshan kaihou again… and I won't be surprised when she gets it. What is wrong with me?_ _Is she really so lucky that I have even started to expect the absurd yaku she seems to be able to win with at will?_ She also occasionally saved her melds of 4 only to use them at seemingly random times, whilst she was not in tenpai at all, but the tile she would draw seemed to be exactly the one she wanted. It really was unbelievable sometimes.

Nodoka did not feel like she had neglected the chance for Mahjong training at the camp. She had watched some of the best high school players in the world play against each other, and she felt like she learnt a lot from that experience. She even watched dozens of games from the point of view of the, in her opinion, best mahjong player at high school level. She really did think that too, and not out of some weird sense of ego or bias or because Nodoka had lost to her or anything like that either. Nodoka thought that only her sister could be argued to be on the same level.

The reason Nodoka thought Saki edged it with her sister was partly because of the screenshot the sister had sent her. Nodoka didn't think there was anyone else who could get +/- 0 points every game, perhaps not even out of anyone in the pro leagues. Nodoka herself had tried it when she had gotten home from the individuals, and in twenty hanchan she managed it twice. _Twice vs. twenty times. 10% vs. 100%._ _She even managed it against her sister, Oohoshi Awai and Ryuumonbuchi Touka…_

In truth it was even worse than that for Nodoka, only one of her own +/- 0s was truly her deliberately landing on the score, the other being an absolute fluke where she was sure her score was too high in the last hand. She spent that particular hand trying to 'play into people', which was much harder to deliberately do than she thought it would be, failing in all of her attempts. When she thought the round was going to end in a draw, a player managed to land a sanbaiman, bringing her score down to +/-0. She had even tried it after that on her own mahjong table with four open hands and could still only barely manage to do it, and even then she couldn't do it nearly as consistently as Saki could.

It was more than just watching other people play however; Nodoka had also played a lot of mahjong herself. She had given Koromo plenty of rematches. She both won and lost against that girl, but found that by following Saki's advice she could win more often than she lost. She had also kept her promise to herself in taking several hanchan off of Fujita-pro, who really was a great player Nodoka was pained to admit.

Maho had also taken a lot of Nodoka's attention this trip. When she wasn't able to be with Saki she was often tutoring the girl, watching her matches and playing against her. They had spent just as much time sat together and not playing at all as they had playing, but Nodoka felt the effort was worth it. They went over her play records with a fine-toothed comb, easily finding her mistakes that really were plentiful and she would then explain to the girl why they were mistakes. It was too easy to use hindsight when looking at match records, so Nodoka had been particularly careful to properly explain everything with only the information Maho would have had available at the time.

Nodoka was quite proud of the girl; she had worked harder than anyone else at the camp and had reaped the rewards, showing vast improvement over her previous play. The girl was finally able to feel confident during normal play against Yuuki which meant a lot to her, although Nodoka didn't think she would ever admit as much. She still had weird defensive habits, in particular against stronger opponents but besides from that she thought the girl would be able to contribute properly to the team come the nationals.

"Kan," Saki announced to the table. She had made it to tenpai on her most recent draw. "Rinshan Kaihou, Honitsu, Yakuhai, 1 dora. 3000 6000 please" she said, and turned to smile at Nodoka who could not understand the sheer happiness she felt every time she realised that smiling down at her was the girl's first impulse after wins. Nodoka smiled her own smile back up at her, fully aware of the blush spreading on her cheeks, but doing her best not to look away. _Rinshan Kaihou again…_ Saki turned back to the table as they began drawing their initial tiles for the next hand.

After they were done playing mahjong they walked together to the cafeteria. After Saki finished her game she had insisted on watching Nodoka play against the same opponents for a hanchan. Nodoka was embarrassed that she had to go and fetch Etopen, but it had been worth it when she won the game whilst Saki was watching her play. Whilst they were walking through the hall to the cafeteria the big girl called Inoue Jun and Hajime stopped them. Nodoka instinctively stepped in front of Saki before either of them could say anything.

"What do you want?" she asked them, irate. The reminder of the state Saki had been in earlier revived her previous anger like a phoenix.

Hajime was the one who answered, "We wanted to come and speak to Miyanaga-san. No that's not it, we wanted to apologise. I didn't really feel right about what happened before, and was hoping we could start over." She addressed Saki with this, but Nodoka was reluctant to step aside. Saki gently tugged her backwards though, to which Nodoka was not prepared to resist.

"It's fine, Nodoka-chan," she said, somehow as sweet-sounding as always. She turned to Hajime, "I would like that, Hajime-san, and there's no need to apologise." Nodoka wanted to disagree with that, but kept quiet. She knew this was something that Saki wanted to happen. It was Saki's desire to make everyone happy that allowed this result to be possible, but Nodoka was still angry.

Hajime bowed to Saki and thanked her. She then turned to Nodoka, which surprised her, "Haramura-san. I know you hate us for what happened, but we didn't want things to happen like that. Please… stop glaring at us like that. We were just worried about our friend."

Nodoka didn't much care about that, but as a certain squeeze of the hand confirmed, Saki wanted her to make up with these people. "Okay," she managed after a lengthy pause, "I hope we can be friends. For my part I'm unhappy about what happened as well, Ryuumonbuchi-san fainting like that was very worrying for us." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Saki was smiling at her so beautifully. _It was worth it for that alone._ The Ryuumonbuchi players agreed to be friends and waved their goodbyes. Saki waved them goodbye enthusiastically.

"I really want to kiss you right now, Saki-san," she whispered to the sweet kind girl, too emotional to care about her own embarrassment. _This sweet and kind girl… She is too sweet and kind for her own good._

Nodoka was surprised when she realised Saki was beaming at her, "I'm so proud of you! You didn't want to do that at all, but you did it anyway!" Her smile was so bright that Nodoka couldn't help but blush further. "Nodoka-chan is so strong!"

Nodoka was confused by that however, "Saki-san" she started, "I only did that because you wanted me to. If you weren't there I would never have been able to do it, even if I wanted to, which I most certainly did not. There was nothing strong about it."

That didn't dissuade Saki at all, "That's what I said, Nodoka-chan," she smiled at Nodoka then, it was a smile that said she knew something that Nodoka did not. "You did something you really didn't want to, that must have been really hard for you, right? That's what makes it strong."

"If that's true, then you are my strength, Saki-san." And Nodoka knew it was true even as she said it. She thought about it for a second, and realised that Saki was probably right, except she missed that final all-important detail. Nodoka had only been up to making up with those people from Ryuumonbuchi because Saki was holding her hand, and because it was what Saki wanted. "You are always my strength" she told the girl honestly.

Nodoka realised how emotional she was, but she knew it to be important in her heart just as she knew it to be true. From her determination to make it to the nationals and their mid-match talk whilst she was in the middle of falling apart against Amae Koromo to simple things like talking to people and even falling asleep. _Everything is easier because of her_. She realised tears were falling from her eyes. She shrugged and smiled apologetically at her most important friend. "I'm such a mess, I'm sorry."

Saki was stood still, staring back at her curiously, "Nodoka-chan…" She paused and seemed to be thinking things through, then she started back the way they had come from, leading Nodoka by the hand towards the exit. Fortunately they didn't meet anyone else before they reached the glass exit door. Nodoka was not sure she would have been able to take the embarrassment of being seen in the state she was in. _Being seen by anyone but Saki-san like this would be unthinkable… if it's just Saki-san... I think I can be okay… _It was getting dark out, but it was still light enough to see. Saki led her by the hand around to the side of the building. They were soon completely alone, at the place where they had taken a nap together earlier in the day.

"Saki-san…" Nodoka wasn't sure why Saki led her out here but she was almost trembling in anticipation. "Saki-san…" she repeated stupidly.

"N-Nodoka-chan," the girl responded. "You are… so beautiful" she said. She looked down before continuing, clearly embarrassed. "When I first saw you… at the tournament… I hid behind my book and just… I just couldn't believe such a pretty girl was looking at me."

"You saw me?" Nodoka blurted out rudely, but she was too astonished to remember her manners this time.

Saki nodded shyly. "I saw you before you saw me, I'm glad you didn't catch me staring, I was sure you had," Saki averted her eyes from Nodoka with a shy laugh, "I… I was really sad when I found out you were my opponent in the final. You said… yesterday… you said you were annoyed at my attitude in the first hanchan… but… so far since I started playing… I didn't always notice it but… people play me and… people are normally… they are normally scared of me when they play me Nodoka-chan... I know that seems ridiculous to you but… up to that point I was so worried about being called a monster, or seeing pretty girls' frightened faces after games… I hated mahjong so much for that… I really hated it. I know that will make you angry, but it's… the truth."

Nodoka felt her fist clench at the idea of those girls who had hurt Saki like that, but kept herself quiet to let Saki talk. Saki took a deep breath before continuing on, "The only reason… I played mahjong was because it was a way for me to get into a good school… the school Onee-chan was at… so I forced myself to do it… I was so scared that I would see the same expression in your eyes, Nodoka-chan. Your eyes were so pretty, and I was in awe of how good you were at talking to the press. I can never do that, except I did better… the day you were there with me..."

Nodoka suddenly knew what she was saying, and blushed. "Saki-san…"

"I was so scared of what you would think after playing me… but then you almost beat me, and instead of fear, you had such a beautiful determined look in your eyes the entire game… Then you talked to me afterwards like I was a real person… That meant so much to me, Nodoka-chan…" Nodoka struggled to keep her silence at that. _Why wouldn't I?_

She continued with a knowing smile on her face, "After our time together at the nationals, I finally had a reason to play that wasn't to do with school. I had a real reason to play mahjong. It was more than that though… Let me explain. Mahjong… it became fun again… The idea of impressing you… playing you again… getting better… those things all made mahjong fun… My life became better just because you… were you… at the tournament…

Then you called me up when I was being stupid at the individuals and you made me see it. You made me see my own stupidity. I'm not very good at understanding stuff like that, but you can always make me understand. I'm not very good at speaking either… and it's hard for me to speak like this… so please do your best to understand. You need to stop… acting like this relationship is one-sided… I rely on you so much, Nodoka-chan… You always support me... so please… just stop…"

Saki was crying as she said those things, but Nodoka was so thankful for her words, as painful as they must have been for her to say. Thanks to those wonderful words she now realised that Saki depended on her as much as she did Saki. The thought made her so happy she could, and in fact was crying right along with Saki.

Nodoka understood Saki's words clearly, and she loved those words and their meaning. She, Haramura Nodoka, was needed… _Saki-san needs me,_ and Nodoka loved the idea of being needed by her, for trivial reasons and non-trivial reasons alike. She wrapped her hands around Saki's body and brought the girl into a tight hug. Nodoka held her against her chest, gently soothing her. "I'm sorry Saki-san, I'm really sorry. You are right. About everything" _I love you so much_. "It makes me so happy to know that I could be there for you those times."

Nodoka gently loosened her grip on the girl so that she could look into her eyes. She slowly brushed hair out of the girl's face with her fingers, as tenderly as she could. "S-Saki-san… would it… would it be creepy… or strange to say that I… to say that I l-loved you right now?" Nodoka knew she ought to be braver, with those beautiful words that the girl had just told her, bearing her heart to her like that… but she felt that it was a start, and Nodoka was scared._ I really am scared, Saki. So please forgive me my cowardice._

Saki shook her head gently in response to her question, but was intently staring at the floor, her eyes full of worry. _She… She's terrified as well…_ _Okay, I have to do my best for her then. _Nodoka looked directly at the girl, determined to follow through. "Saki-san," she brought the girl's face gently upwards in her hand so that she could look into the girl's beautiful red eyes. "I… I… " Nodoka stuttered. She lowered her eyes, embarrassingly clearing her throat before looking up to try again, "I…I l-love you… Miyanaga Saki-san." She hesitated, feebly awaiting what may be or what may not be.

To her delight Saki leaned forwards and kissed her on the lips. She returned the kiss with everything that she had. It was a long, delightful kiss in the dark and Nodoka would never forget it. She savoured the taste of Saki: the wonderful, natural beauty of her smile, the sweet aroma of the faint traces of shampoo left over from her earlier bath, and the soft, girly texture of those lips she couldn't seem to get enough of.

"… What will I do without you? I love you too, Haramura Nodoka-chan" Saki said, cutely mimicking the way Nodoka had used Saki's full name, Nodoka was elated to note. _She said it._ Nodoka made no lies to herself, she had been terrified that she wouldn't get the important response, but now that she had it she was filled with a happiness that she hoped would stay with her forever.

* * *

**Note: I apologise for how badly Hajime and Jun are portrayed here, and how angsty the story gets. It was actually supposed to be orginially based on when Jun + Hajime confront Nodoka and Saki in episode 6 or 7 I believe it was, but if you read this far you will have noticed it gets a little more awkward here. Once I went that route with them taking Ryuumonbuchi Touka's fainting more seriously it just seemed to lead to this conclusion. I actually like them in the anime, believe it or not.**


	13. Chapter 13 - Goodbye

**Chapter 13 - Goodbyes**

* * *

Ryuumonbuchi Touka was fine when she awoke, and was able to move from Saki's futon before night time came. She seemed more embarrassed about the situation than anything else, and she actually asked Teru for a rematch after being told how she had done. "That illogical play is not the real me!" she had pointed out heatedly.

Saki still led Nodoka to the Kiyosumi room when it came to naptime however, and Nodoka followed her without a complaint. Nodoka was determined to kiss a sleeping Saki tonight; she would stay up all night if that was what it took. When they arrived, Saki began taking off her Shiraitodai uniform immediately in front of her. Nodoka spun herself around with absolutely no grace, almost sending herself flying onto the floor and struggling to think. _Why doesn't she realise the effect that has on me?_ Nodoka was thankful the girl was facing the wall as she was doing it, and that the rest of the Kiyosumi club were absent. She had made a mess of things, but at least no one had seen it.

Undressing for bed, and dressing again in the morning had been an awkward exercise for Nodoka for one or two days now. Every time it happened there was a large temptation to take peaks at Saki whilst she simultaneously wanted to hide her own body from the girl. All of this whilst hating herself for being so indecent and hypocritical.

After fumbling about for a few minutes Nodoka was back in Saki's arms, as warm and as content as she would ever need to be. She found herself dreading the following day. _Why did this time have to pass so quickly? I have only known her for one year, and of that year I have spent not even 2 weeks with her. Not even 2 weeks… _Nodoka began crying upon that realization. _Already crying and it's not even morning yet. It's not even the day when she leaves…_

Nodoka heard the door creak open. _I have to pull myself together._ She rubbed her eyes quickly, before doing her best to compose herself and pretend that she was asleep. Yuuki, who was talking loudly about her game against Amae Koromo that she played earlier in the day, was hushed by who Nodoka thought was probably the president. They turned the light on and seemed to be getting ready for bed.

_I won't be able to kiss her now. _Nodoka pushed the thought violently aside. She would still be able to do it; she would just have to wait until everyone else was asleep. Nodoka was past caring about the risks. She lay there listening to the sounds of the room. She listened to the sound of the others getting changed for bed, the sound of the girl breathing next to her, the sound of the girl's heartbeat, the sound of the occasional incoherent murmurs that she always seemed to let out whilst she was sleeping sound… _Saki-san… how am I going to live without you?_

Nodoka guessed that about thirty minutes must have passed before she was confident that everyone else was in bed and probably asleep. No one else was due to come into the room either. Mako, Maho, the president and Yuuki were all accounted for, and Nodoka thought she could probably get away with kissing her now. She opened her eyes and looked at her sleeping Saki. _I'm going to get you this time Saki-san._ She smiled to herself.

She never would have thought that her previous weakness during these precious nights would turn out to be just another stepping stone in the wonderful relationship. She kissed the girl softly on each eye, and then on her nose. She took one last look at Saki, before kissing her gently on the lips. Tears were falling down her face again, and she leaned back and after about 15 minutes she eventually managed to cry herself to sleep.

Hisa watched this with concern. She'd realised that Nodoka was not asleep immediately after entering the room; her eyes were obviously quite sore from crying and her breathing was much more quiet and withdrawn than usual, especially when sleeping with Miyanaga Saki. She had been extremely worried about how their princess would take the girl's departure, but not as worried as she was now.

She had suspected for a while now that Nodoka was in love with or at least in the process of falling in love with the girl, but those kisses were so gentle, so intimate and so sad that Hisa could have no more doubts about it. She felt a lump in her throat just watching it, and the tears streaming down Nodoka's face whilst she was trying to sleep were clearly visible even in the dark and were hard to look at.

The worst part was that she didn't think she could do anything for the girl this time. Hisa didn't think it was strange to feel protective of her club mates, and protective she felt. She had tried to warn Nodoka about this but she met nothing but a depressed, stubborn and sometimes even harsh resistance as Mako could attest to.

The two of them were always in bed first, and Hisa suspected that was because of the new girl. She had heard that Miyanaga Saki slept a lot, and it had been proven true at the camp. Nodoka clearly didn't mind it, always having a very content looking smile on her face even when she was awake. Hisa didn't know how any of this was going to affect Nodoka's mahjong, but she would almost certainly be terrible for a few days but that didn't really matter. Hisa hadn't planned any more mahjong for a while once the camp was done. Not before the National tournament was closer at least, at which point Nodoka would be reunited with Miyanaga Saki anyway.

Hisa thought about the problem some more, but there was no real possibility of setting up any other camps or anything else that Miyanaga Saki could attend. The problem was out of her hands, she realised. She turned over and went to sleep.

Nodoka awoke somewhere after 8, and was soon aware that Saki was already awake and was staring at her and that she somehow seemed worried. She felt herself smile; it really was nice to wake up with the girl. "Good morning, Saki-san," she said with a yawn. Saki smiled back at her and returned her greeting. Nodoka's heart grew immediately taut when she remembered what day it was. She pushed the thought fiercely away. _I'm going to have fun until she leaves. Then and only then am I allowed to cry._ "Shall we go have some breakfast?" she asked the girl as cheerfully as she could. She nodded and they began to get changed.

They were serving a pretty plain breakfast in the cafeteria. It consisted of rice balls with different types of fruit-flavoured jam, miso soup and they both ordered Oolong tea to go with it. Nodoka cheerfully told Saki that they matched, giving her a smile she was not feeling and they quickly took a seat away from the Kazekoshi girls who were already eating at one of the tables. They both sat on the same side of the table so they could hold hands.

Saki didn't let either of them get a bite in before she spoke up, "Nodoka-chan… You don't have to force it, okay? You shouldn't force yourself like this…"

Nodoka swallowed. _Why did she have to say that?_ She not only felt the tears coming but also her body starting to get up, almost by itself. Nodoka knew it was cowardly, but she hated it. She hated feeling like this in front Saki. She hated not being able to be cheerful for the girl on her last day. She could have done that much on her last day with her girl, but the girl had seen through her pathetic attempt at being happy. _At pretending to be happy._ She needed to get out. _I'm sorry, Saki-san._ When Nodoka tried to run she realised she couldn't move. _Saki-san saw this coming…_ Saki's arms were wrapped around her waist, and Nodoka realised she was quietly crying. Nodoka stopped trying to run.

"It's okay to be sad, Nodoka-chan. Please don't leave me, though. Please sit back down." Nodoka sat back down. She wasn't about to deny a crying Saki anything that she could offer.

"I… I've been selfish haven't I?" Nodoka told her, doing her best not to openly cry. She was ashamed of herself. _I've only been thinking of my own feelings._ _Again._ "I'm sorry, Saki-san. I'll be more honest, okay?"

Saki nodded at that. "Thank you Nodoka-chan. Let's eat, okay?"

"Okay."

After lunch they made their way to the bath. Nodoka wondered why it was comfortable to bathe together but when Saki undressed for bed she couldn't calm herself down. After washing for a few minutes, they relaxed in the bath together and Nodoka found the experience refreshing and cleansing of her depression. They were fortunate enough that no one else came in until they were pretty much ready to get out.

They were supposed to play mahjong now until lunch time according to the training schedule but Nodoka wanted to skip the practise for the first time in her life. In the past, she always jumped at the chance to play against other players in real life rather than on the internet and she had been like that for as long as she could remember but today, today she didn't care.

But that didn't matter. Nodoka decided she was going to do whatever Saki wanted. Not for any silly reason like wanting to forgo the responsibility of choosing, but because Saki deserved it and she had told the girl she would be less selfish. Nodoka intended to keep that promise. She actually wanted to go and sit with Saki around the side of the building, in that place which she felt was their spot regardless of how irrational the idea seemed. As silly as it was, that simple patch of grass around the side of the building was important to her and she wanted to spend their remaining time together there. Even _Saki-san can find that spot, you just follow the wall to the right after leaving through the main entrance._

There was another spot that held significant sentimental value for Nodoka, a particular tree near the camp that was the first place they kissed each other. Nodoka was beginning to feel flushed just thinking about _that. I guess it would be fairer to say Saki-san kissed me, whilst I sat there like an idiot…_ But Nodoka still adored that spot regardless. Spending the remaining time there would be a close second by her reckoning, if only second because it would remind her about the state she had been in when she found that spot in the first place.

If Saki suggested either of those places herself Nodoka would be coincidentally happy, but if not Nodoka would go along with whatever she wanted. She brought up the subject herself, doing her best to sound neutral, "Saki-san, do you want to follow the training schedule today and play mahjong, or would you prefer something else?"

Saki looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, "Nodoka-chan, I want to watch you play. So far it's always me who gets to play… Apart from one small game I haven't gotten to watch you play your best at all really…" she said, ever so delicately. Nodoka wasn't sure why she was being so shy all of a sudden. "I really want to watch from behind you… see what you do… mahjong from your point of view…" she finished

_She seemed so worried all through that, I had absolutely no idea that she wanted to watch me play. I am so dense. _"Of course we can do that" Nodoka assured her, "I'm sorry Saki-san, I was having so much fun watching you play and yet it didn't even cross my mind that you would want to watch me. Let's go see if we can find a game."

Saki smiled so cutely at that. _I swear she is doing it deliberately. I just know I'm blushing right now._ Saki then held out her hand, which Nodoka accepted with a smile.

Nodoka spent upwards of 20 minutes finding hard opponents in order to give Saki what she wanted. They eventually came upon Amae Koromo and Fujita pro who were talking animatedly about something, and fortunately they were willing to play. Amae Koromo's fellow club mate by the name of Tomoki was willing to join them to complete the game. Fortunately the two Ryuumonbuchi players were not involved in the previous drama, and didn't bring it up or seem to care at all. Nodoka couldn't even be sure they knew something had happened, which she was grateful for. They sat down at the table and began to play. _I will win for her._

Fujita-pro was the first dealer with Amae Koromo coming afterwards. _This sure is nice though. Saki holding my hand along with Etopen keeping me company as well… I really cannot lose. _

_ "_Ron" she called on Tomoki, "7700 please."

"Tsumo" she announced on the 8th turn of the next hand, "2000/4000 please."

"Tsumo" she called again, "1000 all please." _I'm going to end this whilst I'm east, if I can help it._

Hisa was disappointed that she hadn't managed to get into the game, but she was watching with interest now that it was underway. She had wanted to see Nodoka play with Saki watching all week, and now that it was happening she was interested to see if she was correct in her deduction. If she was, Fujita-pro and Amae were in for a surprise. Hisa smirked to herself.

Fujita wondered where the girl she had demolished in the overlook café had gone. She glanced at the penguin. Haramura Nodoka was a different player when she was playing with that toy tucked underneath her massive breasts, but she was scarier than that now. Fujita was pretty sure she knew why. _That girl… _She looked at the girl whose presence Fujita could feel even despite the fact she was not playing. _Just how is Miyanaga Saki helping her? Is it really just moral support?_ _Somehow I doubt that._

She looked at her new draw. _Will she be able to deal with this?_ "Kan" she announced and revealed 4 East tiles. She flipped the new dora indicator, which turned out to be a 7 man making the new dora the 8 man. She drew a tile from the dead wall and discarded a 4 pin, sacrificing a 3 sided wait on pin tiles for honitsu and left herself a single wait on a 9-sou. _Haramura Nodoka is going for a tanyao; she will discard this tile if she receives it, and there was one discarded recently so she will think it safe._ She grinned. Her trap was set.

She looked over at the girl she was planning to snipe with the grin still on her face, but then her grin faded quite abruptly. Miyanaga Saki was smiling at her. It wasn't just the strange and weirdly gleeful look she was getting from Miyanaga Saki that caused alarm for her, it was also the strange feeling that she was getting from Haramura Nodoka.

Fujita didn't know whether to be scared or excited, but Haramura Nodoka's new occult-like feeling was too contrary to her normal robot like atmosphere to ignore. Miyanaga Saki had been absorbed in Haramura Nodoka since the beginning of the game before she suddenly switched her attention to Fujita which meant it almost certainly wasn't a coincidence. Realisation dawned on Fujita. _It must have been the kan._

"Tsumo" Haramura Nodoka declared again, and Fujita almost jumped out of her seat when she revealed her hand. _A triplet of 8-wans? The kan dora? _She glanced in Miyanaga Saki's direction, but that girl seemed to have completely forgotten that she even existed. She was too busy looking up happily at Haramura Nodoka to pay Fujita any attention… _No way, was it really her doing? _

Fujita had seen Haramura Nodoka pull out an incredible win thanks in part to kan dora before… _I thought of Miyanaga Saki then too_,_ and now it's starting to make sense._ Miyanaga Saki, the girl who seemed to be able to give anyone she wanted kan dora as long as it wasn't herself was definitely up to something. Fujita looked at the pink haired girl. _We may have a new demon on our hands._ _A demon who doesn't even know she's a demon, a demon who doesn't even believe in demons… This should be fun._

Hisa watched the first hanchan unfold in awe. _This girl of ours…_ _Will she really be unable to believe in superstition and mahjong demons after this?_ _Miyanaga Saki may have turned you into something, Nodoka, and you might never know it._

Nodoka was elated that she was winning at this table with her girl watching. She smiled down at Saki. _I always seem to be in luck when you are near._ She did not rely on that luck though; Nodoka had shown her skill so far. She played with incredible speed and did not play into a single hand despite maintaining an aggressive strategy, and her decisions were all of the highest efficiency. Saki gave her hand a squeeze when the new dora was revealed to be her own set of 8-wans own triplets thanks to Fujita-pro's kan, as if in celebration of her luck. _I feel so much more confident with her here._

Teru, who was also watching the game, moved up alongside Kiyosumi's president. She had a question for her, "Do you know what is happening?" she asked.

The girl looked at her, surprised, "Who can say, Miyanaga-san?" then she laughed, "Mind if we borrow your sister for our games at the team tournament?"

_So she does know. _Teru ignored the question. Teru knew before she asked that she would likely get no answer, but she asked the question anyway. "Does she get kan dora often when she practises with your club?"

The girl known as Takei Hisa smiled at that, "now now, Miyanaga-san. I can't just be giving out that kind of information to anyone, can I?" _This girl is smarter than that Ryuumonbuchi girl._ Teru decided that she should have watched Haramura Nodoka at some point when Saki was not with her, but it was too late now. _Maybe I should talk to people she has played or maybe Kiyosumi has a dim-witted member I can take advantage of. That girl who loves tacos seems like an obvious candidate._

"Excuse me" Teru told her, before taking her leave. She then watched as Haramura Nodoka won back to back hanchan against Fujita pro, Amae Koromo and the Ryuumonbuchi girl Teru thought was out of her depth.

_The older Miyanaga is as scary as her mahjong play suggests._ Hisa would have to make sure her members knew not to give out information on team members at some point. She could rely on Mako but Maho and Yuuki would probably need to be told. Nodoka herself could actually be the biggest problem in this regard; she wouldn't see any problem with dismissing such a notion as ludicrous. Fortunately her word on matters of superstition was next to worthless, and Miyanaga Saki's presence would hopefully dissuade the older Miyanaga from prying like that in the first place.

Fujita could not do anything to stop this girl as far as she could tell so far. It was really frustrating. It wasn't frustrating because she was losing; it was frustrating because the victor was so oblivious to what was happening. It happened again in the latest hanchan, except it was Tomoki who declared kan, and sure enough Haramura Nodoka won within 2 turns and her pair were both kan dora bumping the girl's hand up into a haneman. Fujita made sure to watch Miyanaga Saki when Tomoki declared kan, but the girl appeared to be paying no-one but Haramura Nodoka attention at that point.

The girl did not shut them out, but her extremely fast and efficient play was a challenge for both Fujita-pro and Amae Koromo even without Miyanaga Saki's help, and Tomoki had not been able to cope with it at all. With the edge Miyanaga Saki seemed to be responsible for she was incredibly strong, and Fujita had not found a way to snipe the girl like she had so easily at the café. _Not yet anyway._

In the third hanchan, Haramura Nodoka took an early lead but Koromo then landed a big tsumo that ended her dealership. Because of the dealership penalty Haramura Nodoka was hit particularly hard, and Koromo took first place by a large margin. It was in the next hand that Fujita saw her chance. A worthless seat wind had been discarded for the first time in the game by Tomoki, and then Haramura Nodoka had immediately discarded the same tile, and moreover she had not discarded the tile she had picked up. _She had a pair of them but wants to keep her hand closed; she's going to discard the other one next turn_. She drew her next tile and smiled inwardly. _It's here._ Her current hand was in Tenpai with a wait for either a 4 sou or a 7 sou as she had the tiles 4 through 7 and no pair. She discarded the 4 sou.

"Ron" she called when Nodoka dropped the other of her wind tiles. "Honitsu, yakuhai. 8000." _Got her! I've overtaken her with this win, now on to Koromo._

Winning hand-1S 1S 1S 5S 6S 7S 8S 8S 8S Pei Pei Pei Xia (Xia)

Dora Indicator(s): 3W

Yaku: Yakuhai, Honitsu

Nodoka looked up at that. _That illogical sniping again… She must have drawn the last west wind tile between my discards. _Nodoka looked down at her girl to apologise for losing, but she was still cheerfully smiling at her. _That's right. Saki is my strength and she is here, holding my hand. If Fujita-pro thinks that is enough to shake me she is sorely mistaken. There are still 3 hands left. I can win this._

On Nodoka's 8th discard, Fujita-pro declared pon for a set of 3s. It was Tomoki's dealership and Amae Koromo's hand was looking powerful again. _What is it with that girl and her luck? Her hands always seem big._ Nodoka frowned at her tiles; her hand was not coming together. She'd have to bail soon most likely, with Koromo going for a big hand and Fujita-pro rushing for a Tanyao and possibly even a toitoi. She had already ponned a set of 2-mans on one of the first turns, and Nodoka was still 2 tiles away from tenpai.

Nodoka squeezed Saki's hand in apology as she bailed on the 11th turn when Amae Koromo declared riichi. _I can't win this round._ Fujita-pro seemed to follow her example, discarding three hakus in a row. _I guess she wasn't going for Tanyao after all. _On the 16th turn Amae Koromo drew her tile for 3000/6000, leaving Tomoki in big danger of being dropped into minus. It was going to be hard to come back now, but overall she was still in first place, but that alone wouldn't satisfy her. Nodoka had one goal that she really wanted to achieve before the end of the game.

Nodoka looked at Fujita-pro's discards. It was the 12th turn and Nodoka was in tenpai for a pinfu only. Fujita-pro had just discarded a 9 man that she had just picked up, which didn't really mean much and the rest of her discards were mostly terminal tiles. She had also discarded several other man tiles. Nodoka realised she wouldn't be able to do it that hand, and so had no problem declaring tsumo for 300/500 when she drew her needed tile. They were already close in points but now the smallest win or even a draw where Nodoka was tenpai and Fujita was no-ten would leave Nodoka ahead of her. That wasn't Nodoka's goal, however.

Nodoka was in tenpai by the 7th turn in the final round, her own dealership. Fujita pro was clearly collecting man tiles from her discards. _She's trying to make a big hand to overtake Koromo. This is a chance. _Nodoka broke her set of chuns and put the 8 pin into her hand. _With any luck they will assume I am bailing. If they think I'm going for a really big hand for some reason they might play too defensively._ By the 13th turn she had changed her wait from a 2 sided wait for a 2 or a 5 man to a 3 sided wait for a 3, a 5 or a 7 pin. Now I just have to hope I don't draw the tile myself. I can't afford to be furiten.

Fujita-pro suddenly began discarding her wan tiles. Nodoka frowned in disappointment. _She thought I had a big hand and bailed. Or maybe I was too obvious. She will know for sure when I declare tenpai if the round ends in a draw. I guess it can't be helped…_

Fujita knew for sure sooner than that when Nodoka won the hand, and had suspected ever since Haramura Nodoka seemed more interested in her own discards than anyone else's all of a sudden. Nodoka declared tsumo shortly after Fujita had bailed, and her hand value was clearly reduced from her giving up her chuns. _She wouldn't have wanted to give up her man tiles because it was obvious that I was collecting them._

_That isn't the play of a purely logical player at all. Is this the effect of that girl next to her? Or is she gunning for me because I managed to snipe her before?_ Fujita decided it was probably a bit of both, and the girl was now ahead of her points-wise in this hanchan, but she wasn't about to step down from a challenge, especially in the last round. _My round._ _Let's see what you've got, Haramura Nodoka. _

_The normal me would never challenge a pro like this. I can only do it because Saki-san is here with me. _Fujita-pro would know that Nodoka was gunning for her, now. Discarding her chuns like that made no sense whatsoever otherwise. Nodoka had drawn a very respectable starting hand, and she knew that it had a lot of potential. _How do I snipe her with this?_ She looked at the discards and then at the cute girl by her side, and then she knew.

Fujita-pro had a fast hand going herself. She had a look at Nodoka's discards. She couldn't really read much there yet. After the typical terminal tile discards there seemed to be a random assortment of tiles, indicating that at the least it wouldn't be a single suit hand.

Nodoka's hand had come together amazingly. Her trap was set. _Saki-san's trap._ It would require a lot of luck to come off, but she was now tenpai for it. She looked at the discards. There was no reason that Fujita couldn't have the tiles she needed her to have, at the very least. The irrational gambit was so absurd that Nodoka had to laugh at herself and what she was doing. _I can't complain now. I wanted to trap that woman and I have maximised my chances of that happening with this hand. _

Nodoka sighed; she could do nothing now except wait for the right discard to set off the trap. She looked down at Saki who seemed to know exactly what Nodoka had in mind. _I hope it's okay if I steal it, Saki-san._ Saki seemed to read her mind. She nodded encouragingly with an adorable smile. Nodoka smiled to herself. She wasn't even sure she cared if it came off at this point. Having Saki next to her and holding her hand was enough.

Fujita watched the pink haired girl with amusement. _Does she think I am trapped already, or is she just gushing over that girl again? _Fujita shrugged. She was going to have to let Nodoka have another dealer repeat here, her hand wasn't coming together well enough to overtake Koromo with it. She frowned as the third 7 pin was just discarded. _It's going to be a bummer getting to tenpai now._ Three of the 3 pins were in Tomoki's corner in the shape of a pon, and she hadn't seen a 5 pin yet at all. She drew a useless wind tile and discarded it. _Maybe I should just bail_. _That way at least Haramura has no chance of trapping me._ Fujita pushed the idea out of her mind. Running away was not in her style. She had to at least try and get to tenpai.

The person to her left discarded the first 5-pin she had seen so far. _Finally._ "Chi" She tried.

"Kan" a voice called confidently over her. Fujita jolted her head up at that. She was no idiot; she knew that this was no accident. _She might have me here, and she is feeling really strange again. There's no doubt that it's the kan. Is this her trap, then? _Fujita watched in horror as Nodoka flipped the dora indicator. The new dora indicator was the final three pin, making the new dora her own 4 pin. Fujita looked down at her tiles as the girl discarded the tile she picked up. _What do I do? The only way I can get to tenpai is by discarding one of these 2 tiles, and keeping the other for my pair._ She looked mournfully at her now useless 4 and 6 pin.

Fujita thought for a moment, she had a suspicion that this was the very same trap that Miyanaga Saki had used on Haramura Nodoka in the final of the inter-middle individuals. In that game Miyanaga Saki had called kan on a 2-sou and had set up a single wait on a 4 sou. Haramura had avoided that trap by bailing, but Fujita had disallowed herself that luxury_. Is it a 50/50 chance then? Has she got a 4 or a 6 pin of her own for a pair wait?_ _But the new dora is the 4 pin._ _Does that mean that's the wait she set it up on? Or is that the trap?_

She looked at Miyanaga Saki and Haramura Nodoka. Both girls were watching her as her turn had come up. There was one way to use both of the 4 and the 6 pin in her hand. Assuming Nodoka did not have a 4 pin, she could make that a triplet assuming she drew really well, and she could then make the 6 her pair. She could also hope she drew the single remaining 7 pin and an 8 pin and then make the 4 pin her pair. She did not have the time to do that, however. She was going for tenpai. She picked the 6 pin up in her right hand and discarded.

"Ron" Nodoka called. "Tanyao dora 5, 18300 points please." _Damn it. I picked wrong. _Fujita realised that was not the case however when Nodoka revealed her hand. _She had two 4 pins and two 6 pins_. _She had a wait for both of them._ _Of course! She didn't keep the tile she plucked from the dead wall. That was the clue._ She looked at Miyanaga Saki. _This insane luck can't have been an accident. That hand was tailor made for trapping me on this table. _

Winning hand- 2W 3W 4W 4W 5W 6W 4P 4P 6P 6P [5P 5P 5P 5P] (6P)

Dora Indicator(s): Nan, 3P

Yaku: Tanyao

Hisa watched the silent exchange with fascination. Once more Nodoka had called out for a miracle, and a miracle she had received. Miyanaga Saki's presence was even more obvious this time. _How can we use that, come the nationals?_ Hisa would have to think of something, the nationals were scary, and this ability Nodoka seemed to have accidentally and unknowingly developed was powerful enough to give their team some serious firepower. _Miyanaga Saki is obviously the key. We need to get her in contact with our princess before games where we will need it._

The final hand was surprisingly anti-climactic. Hisa was expecting Nodoka to win again in order to take the win in the third hanchan, but Amae Koromo scored a quick tsumo to end the round as the leader. She looked at Miyanaga Saki and considered. _Could your luck only take her so far? Or is there another reason that I'm not seeing? _Nodoka was the unquestionable overall winner and seemed to be delighted with the game, so maybe it was just because Nodoka was already content. She seemed to be whispering happily enough to Saki about something at least. Hisa shrugged and approached Amae Koromo about setting up a game.

* * *

**That's (almost) it for the training camp arc, it went way longer than I originally intended. Sorry about that.**


	14. Chapter 14 - Nodochi

**Chapter 14 - Nodochi**

* * *

Nodoka was ecstatic after her game against Fujita-pro, but that was before she remembered what day it was and found her good mood evaporating. She and Saki walked hand-in-hand to the main entrance and they left the building together. Nodoka wasn't sure where Saki wanted to go but Nodoka found herself leading the girl around to the side of the building all the same. Nodoka was ashamed of how easily her will had been broken. After vowing to do whatever Saki wanted until she left all it had taken was about an hour of mahjong for her to forget that in its entirety and let her selfishness take over.

She turned to Saki, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to drag you here. Do you want to do anything else before…you leave?" Nodoka hadn't meant to hesitate upon saying the dreaded words. _It really is like an executioner's axe swinging over our heads._ _Except there is no chance of a last minute reprieve. No way to appeal. No way to protest or change fate._

"Nodoka-chan, it is okay to worry about yourself a bit more" said Saki, "watching you play like that was the last thing I wanted from this trip… and you were so amazing! I had so much fun watching you. It's your turn though, right? Let's do what you want to do now, okay? You deserve it, Nodoka-chan."

Despite those wonderful words Nodoka found tears in her eyes. _Or perhaps it's actually because of those words._ _Why do I have to be such a mess at a time like this?_ "I want…" she looked Saki in the eyes as she said it, determined to tell the girl what she was feeling, "to be there with you forever. I want to be by your side, forever. But I can't do that… I can't be there with you for a while… for a little while at least… so right now… in this moment… I just want to kiss you…"

Nodoka intended to spend the final hours of their trip together kissing and showering her girl with affection. Nodoka found she could forget the unfortunate truth when her girl was kissing and hugging her, and that was worth more than anything.

Nodoka was sitting side by side with Saki, hands joined together when Teru found them. She realised they had been snoozing and cursed herself for wasting these precious last moments together_. I can only relax like this when I am with her. Saki makes my life so relaxing, so fun, and so beautiful._ And _it's over._ _It's over_. Teru's presence announced that little fact plain and clear.

Nodoka squeezed her hand, "Saki-san" she whispered gently, "Saki-san, it's time."

A drowsy Saki opened her eyes, "Oh." She looked at Nodoka, "okay." She looked up at her sister. "Thank you for packing my bag, I can always rely on Onee-chan." she said. She smiled as she said it but it was somehow sad in its essence. Nodoka wasn't sure if she that was inherent or if she was just projecting her own feelings onto the girl, but that didn't make it any easier to bear.

Teru just looked back at her without moving. "Saki…"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, right, Nodoka-chan?" She held out her hand, Saki's smile was still so sad and so pretty that Nodoka didn't know what to say. She floundered and in the end decided on a simple nod. She took Saki's hand slightly desperately and they made their way to the entrance.

The crowd at the Shiraitodai taxi was not nearly as large as it had been when they arrived, but members from both Kazekoshi and Ryuumonbuchi were prevalent, and the entire Kiyosumi club were there. Tsuruga were completely absent, as were Amae Koromo and Fujita pro who seemed to spend a lot of their time together, teasing each other, playing mahjong and what not. Oohoshi Awai and Seiko were already seated in the taxi, with Hirose Sumire evidently waiting outside for the Miyanagas to arrive.

Nodoka really wanted one last kiss, but with all these people it was sadly impossible. She reluctantly let her girls' hand go. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Nodoka thought she understood. _She wants to kiss me too._ Saki seemed like she was going to come back regardless of the people there but Nodoka frantically shook her head at the girl. _I won't cause her any trouble. That kind of selfishness is no good._ Nodoka would endure it, and so would Saki.

Suddenly the president was next to her, "I'm sorry Nodoka…" she said, the concern very evident in her voice, "come on, come here," and then she had her arm around Nodoka_. _She had tears in her eyes, but she couldn't let herself openly cry, not with so many people around. Nodoka cursed herself inwardly. _I really care about my reputation at a time like this? Really?_ Nodoka watched Saki as she put her bag in the boot of the taxi. Miyanaga Teru, who was next to her, was holding her sleeve and leading her toward the door.

Saki on the other hand had eyes only for her. _Saki-san…_ The tears would not stop._ I won't sleep with her tonight, I won't hold her hand and we won't play mahjong together. _It was too much, even with the president comforting her she couldn't fight the tears, regardless of trivial things such as reputation, or proper etiquette.

But then none of it mattered. If there was one girl who could make Nodoka forget about reputation, etiquette or even manners, it was the cute girl running towards her now._ Oh you idiot, Saki-san._ Nodoka couldn't believe what she was doing. _You are so stupid, Saki-san._ The girl was running back towards her, for all the world to see. _I love you so much, Saki-san._ She embraced Nodoka in such a fierce hug that she forced the president back a step or two. "I…" the crying Saki whispered, "I'm sorry..." her face was as red as she had ever seen it. Saki kissed her then. It was an intimate kiss, a fantastic kiss, an all-too-revealing kiss. "I'm really sorry…" she whispered again, kissing her more. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Waaaa..?" Yuuki exclaimed loudly. Any bystanders who had not noticed what was happening were surely watching now.

"Saki….san…" Nodoka tried, but Saki was busy making sure she couldn't speak at all and Nodoka did not mind to her astonishment. She found her arms around Saki's back and that she was kissing the girl right back. _I'm never going to live this down. _Other stupid thoughts raced through her mind but she stopped thinking altogether once she became lost in Saki's lips. "Saki-san… you have to go…" she managed. Nodoka barely even noticed that they were getting stared at by pretty much everyone in attendance.

Nodoka decided that in that instant she didn't really mind, and her blush this time was not wholly because of embarrassment. "I'll miss you, Saki-san" she called to the girl getting into the car next to a Teru who looked probably more surprised than Nodoka ever thought she could get, "get a mobile phone!" she remembered, elated, still running on the high she had stolen from the girl's sweet lips.

_That can't have been good. The big Miyanaga looks livid. _Hisa laughed to herself. She supposed she should try to prevent what had happened from spreading but instead decided to blow it off. With so many people there, there was no chance of keeping it under wraps. With some luck the media wouldn't find out, but even that wasn't certain, and it would only be a courtesy to Nodoka's privacy for Hisa to step in; she thought that publicity resulting from such an incident could easily be manipulated into being a good thing for Kiyosumi. _For Shiraitodai on the other hand… _

Hisa shrugged. It was clearly their girl who instigated it, so they could hardly blame Nodoka or Kiyosumi if word got out. Hisa had almost laughed out loud when the crowd that had gathered to see Shiraitodai off went silent like that. It was the way Nodoka had barely even noticed it when she was normally so conscious of things like that had been almost too much.

"Did she just… kiss…Nodo-chan...?" Yuuki seemed to be the most surprised out of everyone.

"Sure seemed that way" Hisa told her.

"For a girl who is supposed to be meek and mild, that sure was a bold move" Mako mused, the amusement in her voice hard to miss.

"Did you see Miyanaga Teru? I don't think I've ever seen so much emotion from that girl" Hisa told her. She enjoyed talking with Mako like this. She supposed it was akin to gossiping, but she had to allow herself some guilty pleasures in life.

"I wonder how their coach will react. I was surprised she let them out here in the first place."

"I suspect Miyanaga Teru has quite a lot of say considering she led them to two national championships that they wouldn't have had a dream of winning without her."

"I suppose it pays to be the boss." Mako winked cheekily. Hisa laughed out loud at that, before noticing a certain duo arguing a bit too loudly regarding recent events: Maho and Yuuki had devolved into a shameless argument about when Nodoka and Miyanaga Saki had started being "like that" with each other. Yuuki was sure it had been love at first sight, whereas Maho was of the opinion that they had just witnessed their first kiss. _If my own club members are discussing it so openly, what chance is there of keeping it quiet?_

Hisa turned and went in search of wherever Nodoka was hiding. Reality was going to catch up with the girl eventually, although what had just happened might allow the girl to forget for a while. Hisa was planning to leave the girl alone at first but after what happened she thought she might need to talk.

Miyanaga Teru was not happy. "Saki, I understand that you like Haramura Nodoka… but to do that... in front of so many people? Why? You don't usually do stupid things, yet that display makes two really stupid things you've done at that place."

Saki at least did seem genuinely regretful, "I'm sorry Onee-san I just… I just needed to… She was crying… I wanted to… I didn't want to not say goodbye properly just because of the people there…"

Teru sighed inwardly, "Don't you realise how much of a problem this could cause for us and Mom if it somehow gets into the press? Not to mention Shiraitodai itself."

Saki studied her hands that were fidgeting in her lap. "I know onee-san I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking… but I don't think the story will make it to the press will it..?"

"Why wouldn't it? It would be good for Kiyosumi High School."

Saki's tone was suddenly and surprisingly defiant when she responded, "Nodoka-chan would never do that, Onee-san."

"I'm not worried about Haramura Nodoka. It's their president, I talked to her and she seems like she's smart enough to grasp that. There were also lots of other people there, Saki. All it takes is one person."

"I don't think the Kiyosumi president would do it either, Onee-san." Saki looked up at her, "I'm really sorry."

"Okay Saki, just be more careful please? I wouldn't care if it had no chance of hurting you later." Teru sighed. She had seen Haramura Nodoka shaking her head when Saki made to go to her at first. _Even that girl was smart enough to tell Saki no, yet she still did it. _

"I know onee-san… Thank you for taking care of me… But onee-san… you didn't say anything about me… and Nodoka-chan…" Saki turned red even as she said it.

"I knew. So did Awai." _She is so dense to how obvious she is._

"Oh…"

Awai took that as permission to commence her teasing, as Teru knew she would. Her head appeared behind Saki's headrest with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Oh Nodoka-chan" she mimicked cruelly, "oh kiss me Nodoka-chan! I really love your massive boo… I mean… your fantastic personality…"

Saki's mouth dropped open and the teasing did not help her blush, "Stop it Awai-chan that's too far!" Teru noticed she let out a little laugh though. Soon enough they were laughing together with Awai teasing her with Seiko. Even Sumire, who she was expecting to be angry, seemed to find the ordeal amusing.

Teru turned over and went to sleep to the sounds of their laughter.

Nodoka was trying to busy herself with packing her stuff away in the Kiyosumi room when the president entered. Hisa watched her for a while with amusement before the girl noticed her standing there.

"Ah, president… I'm extremely sorry about… what happened... I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"Oh don't worry about that Nodoka. It shouldn't cause us too many problems, even if it does somehow get out. I can't say the same for Shiraitodai however… or your privacy for that matter."

"It really is a mess isn't it?" Nodoka seemed surprisingly okay for the moment. "I really should have done more to stop her from doing that." Hisa smiled crookedly at that. _You sure didn't seem to mind at the time, Nodoka-chan._

"Do you want to come play some mahjong with us? I was thinking about setting up a game with some Tsuruga players. Yumi-san wanted to play some with us." It was only half a lie. Yumi had expressed an interest in playing against her, but she hadn't mentioned Nodoka. Hisa didn't think she'd mind. The girl seemed intent on playing strong players, and Nodoka was certainly seen as strong even if she did end up being less effective without Miyanaga Saki around.

"Oh no… I don't think I could go out there again… I can't face anyone… after that." Nodoka had turned her back to her to continue her packing but her blush was still fairly apparent.

"Oh, come on Nodoka don't be silly. That awkwardness will pass before you know it, and I think it would be good for you to keep your mind off things."

Nodoka understood. "I guess that would be a good idea. Thank you for always taking care of me, president." She turned around and followed the president out of the room.

Nodoka didn't see much of the Kiyosumi team during those weeks before the nationals were due to begin. She hid herself away and busied herself in homework and net mahjong, which she found was still the perfect escape for her. At first she was unable to concentrate, but before long she rediscovered her old habits and was able to lose herself for long periods in trying to maximise her win percentage. She tried going to the mahjong club room a few times, and she had met and talked with Yuuki and Maho several times. Those things had helped distract her, but she felt too depressed to put in the effort to be social very often.

The nights were the hardest. She supposed it would probably be what it would have been like if she couldn't sleep with Etopen for some reason in the past. _I could have replaced Etopen though._ She found that losing herself in thought before falling asleep was now no longer any solace at all. Instead of having a calming effect on Nodoka it was almost physically painful. She thought about Saki, always Saki.

She wondered what she was doing, where she was, whether the girl was thinking about her, whether she was happy or sad or excited or scared. She remembered her touch, her voice, her smell, her insecurities, her honesty, her contagious cheerfulness, her laugh, the way she blushed, the way she ate, the way her face lit up sometimes especially when she smiled, the way she kissed…

Nodoka did her best not to think about her on the nights, but whatever she tried thinking about would eventually somehow lead back to her. It was unfortunate in a way that she was so heavily involved with mahjong. Her usual go-to topic to think about was mahjong, her games in the day, what else she could have done during matches, what her opponents had done, and the new ideas about mahjong theory on defense and the like. Those things were not safe to think about anymore. It would inevitably lead to "How would she have played this hand?" or "What would she think about this?"

Nodoka sighed and rolled over, desperate to fall asleep.

Teru had an idea. Saki was back to her old quiet self since they returned from the training camp, but she believed her idea would change that. Fortunately the coach as of yet had not heard what her sister had done whilst there, and the press didn't write anything about it either. One thing that Teru knew she needed to do was secure a mobile phone for her sister. Saki didn't know the first thing about how to get one and was too courteous to ask for help, but Teru didn't mind that. She would get her one without a fuss when she had the chance. But before she bothered with that she would execute her plan. Teru believed she had found a way to both cheer up her sister and improve her mahjong.

"Saki, could you come with me for a moment." Saki looked up from her book, and nodded without responding. Teru led her to the computer she had set up in their Father's old office. It was a cheap thing, but Teru had bought it herself with some of her own money for the sole purpose of playing net mahjong. Teru hadn't known what she was doing at first, but it was easy enough to learn.

She previously had not cared at all about the online version of the game, but she watched a Ryuumonbuchi girl play it at the camp for a short while, and it appeared that no one could use abilities or any kind of power whilst playing. Such a scenario was useful training for herself, her sister and in particular Awai. Awai was easy enough to convince to try it, she just suggested it and left it at that, knowing Awai would sort herself out.

For Saki however… She hadn't tried to make Saki play until now, as she knew her sister wouldn't have the motivation for mahjong right now and probably wanted a break before the nationals. Whilst browsing the top rankings however she discovered the perfect motivation. She opened up the page now and pointed at the name in rank 1.

"No-do-chi…?" Saki's voice climbed a few octaves when realisation came, "Nodoka-chan!"

Nodoka was just finished playing a match on her computer when her thought process was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. _Unknown number._ Nodoka's heart skipped a beat; she answered it and did her best to be calm when she answered with her customary "Hello, this is Haramura Nodoka speaking." This was not the first time an unknown number had contacted Nodoka, and it was not the first time she had butterflies in her stomach like this. It was almost a ritual at this point. _I really am hopeless._

Her hopes were answered this time when a sweet voice replied to her, "Hello erm… N-Nodoka-chan… It's Miyanaga Saki speaking" the voice said before going quiet. _It's her!_

"Saki-san!" she said, too loudly. "You finally got a phone… I really… I really miss you." she told the girl honestly.

"I miss you too, Nodoka-chan. I really… want to see you… I'm sorry… I don't really have a reason for calling you like this…"

"That's just fine Saki-san! I'm so happy that you called me."

"Oh." Saki sounded like she was relieved… _she's so cute, even over the phone_._ At least she doesn't know how depressed I have been without her._ Saki continued, "I'm really glad, Nodoka-chan. I-" she trailed off, seemingly embarrassed about something.

"What is it, Saki-san? Don't worry, you can tell me anything, right?" Nodoka did her best to imitate Saki herself. Nodoka found it so easy to talk to the girl that she felt guilty whenever Saki struggled to tell her something.

"Umm, I know Nodoka-chan… It's just that I was trying… to play this net mahjong… on the computer… You are Nodochi, right? I can't get to your rank… I thought I would be able to… but I can't see the tiles like I usually can… I wanted to surprise you in a game but… I can't make it… I didn't want to give up but… You are so amazing Nodoka-chan… your rank is so high..."

"Saki-san…" Nodoka found herself blushing. _She was trying to surprise me… She figured out my name…_ That last really did surprise Nodoka. There had been rumours about it Nodoka knew, but there were also rumours that her account was a program created by the website itself, so that kind of thing was clearly useless. It was also true that Saki knew her play style well enough that she could figure it out, especially since she was aware that she played on the net, but it was still surprising considering her lack of computer experience_._

"I'm sure you would be able to make it if you played more… But it's not surprising that you are struggling. I bet you still accidentally miss-click riichi sometimes instead of declaring tsumo. I used to do that when I first started and you have barely used computers as it is… But that's no problem! Just tell me your name and I'll set us up a game."

"Oh... It's just Miyanaga Saki… in hiragana. And I make that kind of mistake all the time… One time I accidentally ponned a haku instead of clicking ron… I was in furiten until the dealer won that time…" _It's just like Saki-san to be like that, innocently using her real name on the internet and making cute mistakes._

Nodoka herself had been too obvious calling herself Nodochi, but calling yourself by your real name when you were as famous as Saki was simply asking for trouble. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if Saki actually did become as highly ranked as herself as people would instantly know it was her. There was always the suspicion that a fan is using a well-known players' name of course, but that likelihood diminished rapidly when the player using it was highly ranked.

Nodoka, unaware of the smile long absent from her face now making it's reappearance, laughed lightly into the phone and responded, "You really are adorable, Saki-san."

Saki laughed shyly at that, probably confused as to why she was so adorable all of a sudden. "Nodoka-chan… shall we play together, then?" she asked. "Do you want to stay on the phone whilst we play?"

Nodoka agreed enthusiastically that they should do just that. She knew that people frowned upon being on the phone with other participants during games, and that such an action was often used for cheating, but Nodoka shrugged it off easily. _Saki-san would never cheat. _She was also aware that the games they would play would probably be frowned upon considering the nature of the rules of the inter-high championships. Those rules technically only applied to physically playing against each other though, as there was no real way to know who you were playing online so they let it pass. Nodoka smiled, she would never have broken the rules for anyone else.

Nodoka played with Saki for hours online that night, and it was way past her usual bed time when she eventually realised the time. _It's like back when I first started playing net mahjong, I always lost track of time like this back then. _ Nodoka's face felt hot just thinking about how much fun she had had; they would both begin giggling every time one of them managed to land a direct hit on the other, and Saki kept trying to go for open and closed kans and rinshan kaihous out of nowhere and then they would laugh together when they failed to come off, sometimes completely ruining her hand.

Nodoka even tried declaring a kan in a nonsensical situation herself in one hand, just to hear the girl laugh. When that particular game ended in a draw, Nodoka revealed she was actually in tenpai for a single 4-pin of which all were in her own kan-meld completely ruining an otherwise perfectly good tanyao. Saki had laughed so hard that Nodoka thought she might pass out. Nodoka had just sat there, happily listening to Saki's giggling, pleased with herself simply because she had made the girl laugh. She distinctly recalled thinking that it was worth it just for that, _and it was worth it_. _I had so much fun listening to her laugh… way more fun than I would have had if I had just won with the hand… Does that make it logical or illogical that I did such a thing?_ Nodoka didn't know, and more surprisingly she found she didn't mind that she didn't know. She hadn't regretted doing it for a second.

It was hard not to notice that Saki was not nearly as formidable online as she was in person whilst playing however, with Nodoka winning the majority of their games together. Nodoka figured she must be seeing something in other peoples' faces or the way they discarded things physically when she played on a real table. _She's probably a natural psychologist or something. Is that what she meant by not being able to see the tiles? Information that could only be perceived in real life was how the president put it at our first training camp. Maybe she was more right than I knew._

Nodoka had, at first, been distracted by that information according to the president, _and she must have been right._ Once Nodoka had Etopen in her hands she found she was able to perform as well as she did online. _That's probably because instead of being distracted by such information I am now able to ignore it all… Maybe there's a way I can become more like Saki-san… by going the other way. _Nodoka became aware that she was enjoying thinking before falling asleep again, and smiled to herself. _Saki-san is the one who makes it all better. _

Hisa was extremely busy that same month before the mahjong inter-high tournament began. She had a lot of travel preparations to make, and booking the hotel room they were to stay at among other things would fall on her shoulders. Luckily Kyoutarou didn't seem to mind running all over town buying supplies for them and was a tremendous help. _It's a shame he's so bad at mahjong though._

Still it showed he at least had mental strength. Hisa wondered how many people could be, and continue to be so passionate about something that they had absolutely no talent for whatsoever. The poor guy didn't know about Nodoka and Saki either and he had a fairly obvious crush on the former and was a pretty shameless fan of the latter. Hisa didn't think it was a serious worry, however. It was probably more a physical thing with Nodoka so she ignored it for the most part.

Hisa had other problems, too. The travel and lodging preparations would be a pain, but Hisa could handle those without any real concern. The real problem was her team and in particular their princess and Yuuki. She received a book detailing the play records of the teams that would be attending the nationals from Tsuruga's Yumi. The book proved invaluable in showing Hisa just how hard they would have it, and she was still determined to win the whole thing. There were players who looked like they could even give Shiraitodai a run for their money.

In particular Rinkai seemed to be incredible, at least on paper. Their vanguard was the third placed Satoha from the previous' years individuals, and the rest of the team was filled with medal winners and other monster level players. Hisa almost didn't catch herself that time. 'Monster' was another word she was attempting to eliminate from her own vocabulary in fear of antagonizing Nodoka along with 'abilities' and 'powers', but Senriyama, Eisui and others all seemed to have those types of players too, often putting them as vanguard and captain. Surprisingly few of the big teams were putting their aces in the Lieutenant position, Hisa was relieved to note.

Hisa knew that Yuuki would likely be outmatched in many of their rounds. Whilst Hisa was proud of the girl, who of everyone on their team besides Maho had probably improved the most at the training camp, Hisa did not think she could stop a player like Satoha Tsujigaito of Rinkai, Toki Onjouji of Senriyama or Shiraitodai's Miyanaga Teru. Hisa couldn't blame Yuuki for that, those players had proven themselves to be incredible and it was likely that no one on Kiyosumi could even hope to compete with them. That was of course until you factored in whatever their princess got from Miyanaga Saki, where Hisa thought they actually had a real weapon.

That of course brought Hisa one of her main headaches. _How do we trigger whatever that is?_ During their games together at the training camp Nodoka barely ever declared kan, and even more rarely did she receive any kan dora. Talking to Nodoka about it was out of the question. If asked, the girl would deny it out of hand, and would likely all but refuse to listen. Hisa also wondered what would happen if Nodoka was up against Miyanaga Saki herself. _Would she still be able to call out for those miracles? Is Miyanaga Saki consciously helping her or is it a happy accident?_ Hisa also had to consider whether Miyanaga Teru herself would do something about it. The girl had obviously known something was up when they had that brief chat during Nodoka's game against Amae Koromo and Fujita at the camp.

During the camp, she made Yuuki try playing faster against ability type players, and she had developed a useful calling style that seemed to be more effective against them. Amae Koromo told her it was far harder to play against for her, which was certainly something. It didn't free her from her control like Nodoka's did unfortunately, but Hisa thought it would be more effective than her current play style. Hisa was convinced that much like her east round it would need powering up, so the timing of when she had the girl switch to it would be extremely important. It was going to be hard, at least, and they would surely need it against Miyanaga Teru and Rinkai.

For Maho, a lot of the improvements they could make would be before the round even began, in preparation. Researching opponents and knowing exactly what abilities they could use would be invaluable in advising the girl when to use them. They wouldn't be able to prepare her perfectly for every opponent, but Hisa suspected it was too much pressure for the girl to go in blind and decide herself on when to use the abilities, and she did not want a repeat of the incident that happened with Kazue Nanpo's ability.

The only advice she gave her prior to the games at the qualifiers was simply to try and make use of offensive abilities on her own dealership. Hisa was not able to do much else with the limited information that was available at the time, especially when it came to players like Momoko of Tsuruga, but she had no such excuse this time, and she meant to prepare the girl perfectly.

Hisa had briefly hoped that they could maybe improve the specs of the ability itself. If Maho could use the same ability every turn she would become a fearsome player who they could comfortably send out against the likes of Miyanaga Teru. Hisa also thought they might be able to change it so that Maho could use abilities that belonged to players who were merely nearby or watching. Both ideas proved to be no-goes however, and she seemed unable to even make an attempt at using an ability that she had already used that day and she said she couldn't see abilities that belonged to players who were just spectating. She had even tried having Yuuki sit in the same seat with her whilst playing, but she still apparently saw nothing.

When it came down to improving her all round game, Hisa was confident she could rely on Nodoka for that as she had at the training camp. The girl had made great strides in improving her play so far, although she was probably still not a national class player outside of her ability. Hisa was surprised at how hard the girl was willing to work, clearly taking great strength from her admiration of Nodoka and great motivation from her desire to stand on the same level as Yuuki. It was fair to say that Hisa was proud of the girl's attitude, which might be the best of anyone's on their team.

Their sergeant and the person Hisa considered her closest friend Mako pretty much took care of herself, as usual. She understood better than Hisa how to improve her own ability and the training camp naturally improved it, giving her more opponents with strange play styles to expand her databases with, in particular Tsuruga's beginner was a useful opponent for her. She said something about seeing the pond as a face so that she could change the face into something her opponents wouldn't like, and had shown steady improvement at the camp too.

Hisa herself struggled to figure out a way to improve her own play, so she had just found hard opponents to play as often as she could. She played Amae Koromo whenever she had the chance, and felt like she had improved her chances at taking the girl on, although she never finished a hanchan above her in points. She considered it a great shame that she couldn't play against Fukuji Mihoko from Kazekoshi and thought amusedly to herself that it was almost a bad thing that she had qualified for the individuals. _I should have known my luck was too good that day._

Hisa laughed to herself. Currently her plan involved speeding Yuuki's play up, even if it meant sacrificing big hands, doing more scouting for Maho, and to do everything she could to make sure Haramura Nodoka slept in the same room as Miyanaga Saki, watched all her games and vice versa, whenever possible. _At least one of my juniors will be pleased._

Miyanaga Teru was pleased that her sister had snapped out of her quiet melancholy even if it was thanks to the pink haired girl yet again. She never thought her sister would be so motivated to use a computer. The only other thing besides mahjong she had seen Saki so passionate about was books, and it had proven to help the girl's mahjong as Teru hoped it would. Teru was satisfied that her idea had been a good one from the day she had shown Saki the online rankings after seeing the girl take to the game.

Saki actually seemed to have found a penchant for several types of technology these past few weeks. The girl was constantly using her phone to send text messages to Haramura Nodoka and Awai, and seemed to enjoy herself a little too much when she played net mahjong together with Nodochi. Teru was sure there were rules about calling each other during games, and she just knew that the coach would be livid if she found out about it but Teru didn't care about any of that herself, although it meant she had to make sure Saki knew to keep her mouth closed about such things around people from Shiraitodai.

She found herself wary of Haramura Nodoka, however. She was shaping up to be a real threat come the nationals, and at least part of it was thanks to a member of their own team. She approached her sister about it at one point, but the girl just fidgeted almost from side to side awkwardly and eventually just mumbled that she didn't know what was going on with Haramura Nodoka's Mahjong. Teru judged that that was probably true, _which makes it more dangerous._ Teru would have preferred it if she had managed to coax Nodoka into a match at the training camp. If she could just have used her Shoumakyou on the girl she would have been able to clear up any confusion.

She briefly considered forcing Saki to spend less time with the girl come the nationals. She would certainly have the coach's support if she wanted it, and it would likely weaken the captain of a rival team but she decided against it. She as Shiraitodai's captain yearned for good opponents, and that went for Shiraitodai as a team as well. They yearned for a real fight this year. Besides Rinkai and possibly Eisui and one or two others, Teru did not think Shiraitodai would even have to be awake to win against most opponents this year with her sister there as well as herself. Forcing Saki not to spend much time with Nodoka also had the very real chance of weakening Shiraitodai's own captain, and it would certainly depress her. She may even resent Teru for such a thing, although resentment seemed to just not be in Saki's nature at times, regardless of what happened to her.

Senriyama might have been a real threat too, but Onjouji Toki would be up against herself and she didn't think she could possibly lose. Her Shoumakyou was not necessary for determining exactly what she did; her play record all but shouted it out loud. Senriyama also had Ryuuka and Sera but if either of those played against Oohoshi Awai or her sister their best players could all easily be annihilated. Teru thought it might happen too, Ryuuka was likely going to be their captain, Toki would almost certainly be their vanguard and putting their next best player in Awai's Lieutenant position would be a typical formation.

Teru was by no means uncompetitive. She wanted to win the nationals; she wanted to crush the opposition into dust. But she also didn't want it to be boring, and for her and her sister easy opponents were boring. Saki would never say as much but Teru knew it was true for her. It was also very true that good opponents would be less inclined to call her a monster or be scared of her, which was invaluable to Saki. It was fair to say that Teru wanted Saki to have as many strong opponents as necessary, and she wanted Saki to defeat them all with her own strength like Teru knew she could. Saki would likely have the game of her life if she got to play against a full strength Haramura Nodoka in the final or even the semis, which Teru decided would be a good thing, even if she lost it.


	15. Chapter 15 - Another Beginning

**Chapter 15 - Another Beginning**

* * *

The day of their journey to the nationals had come at last, and Nodoka was so nervous she was finding it hard to even think straight. Despite her best efforts to calm herself down, she found it was impossible. _Four more hours before I see her._ She quickly input a text into her phone "We just got on the bus now. See you soon ❤" she wrote, embarrassed simply because she had been asinine enough to put a heart at the end of it, but pressed send anyway hoping no one would notice how randomly embarrassed she was.

They arrived at around 6:45 pm, a full 45 minutes later than planned. Traffic had been bad and they had taken an extended break at lunch as Maho was feeling slightly under the weather. They had taken the train part of the way of course, and fortunately that part of the journey was relatively painless. Nodoka found her face pressed to the window as they were arriving, and before long she spotted the person she had thought about non-stop for most of the journey.

As she saw the girl a memory of a certain promise made its way to the forefront of Nodoka's mind. _Arriving at the nationals like this… almost makes it real. It's as though it was previously all just pretend but now that we are here all of those things now mean something._ _I made it, Saki-san! _

Miyanaga Saki evidently did not realise that they had arrived, and was standing and chatting with her sister and Oohoshi Awai about something. All three were wearing their Shiraitodai uniforms, and Saki had her hair in pigtails. _She came out to wait for me! But she's so cute with those pigtails… I am going to have no chance calming myself down at this rate. _

Nodoka waited patiently whilst the door opened for her, and doing her best not to run, made her way to Saki. "Saki-san!" she called. Miyanaga Teru was the first to look up at her. Her expression did not appear to change at all, unsurprisingly. Nodoka enjoyed the wonderful contrast it made when Saki turned around and her face lit up into that beautiful smile that she so adored.

"Nodoka-chan!" she called out, excited. Saki didn't hesitate for even a second when she turned to Nodoka and began to run absolutely shamelessly towards her. Nodoka smiled to herself. _Only Saki-san can be so wonderfully unperturbed. _Nodoka couldn't hold herself back anymore, breaking into a run and flying into her girl's arms. _At last._

"We really made it didn't we? We really made it" she whispered softly.

"We made it. We really did" Saki whispered back. It really was wonderful to see her again. Saki broke off the hug and interlocked both of her own hands with Nodoka's, looking into her eyes. Nodoka found herself suddenly aware of all the people who were watching them. Kiyosumi's entire club, Miyanaga Teru, Oohoshi Awai and even Kyoutarou. _Please don't Saki-san… not here… I won't be able to say no and you know it._

Saki smiled at her as if she knew exactly what Nodoka was thinking, and was just going in for the kill when the president interrupted them.

"Hey, hey knock it off you two." she said, remarkably casually. "Nodoka, you didn't even pick up your bag. If Mako hadn't noticed, it would have been on its way back to the train station as we speak."

"Oh…!" Nodoka stammered, embarrassed and fully aware of the deep blush that was spreading across her face, "I'm… sorry President. Thank you for picking it up for me."

"Yep, yep no problem." The rest of the Kiyosumi club were with them by this point apart from Mako who was desperately trying to find a bathroom. The president looked up and addressed the intimidating Miyanaga Teru as casually as ever, "Miyanaga-san, I wonder if you would like to come with me so we can talk?" she asked.

"Yes okay." She responded simply. They went off together to the general befuddlement of the group left behind.

Poor Kyoutarou was almost collapsing under the weight of his rucksack, and he had a lot of shopping the president had assigned him to do in the capital. Nodoka wondered, not for the first time, why Kyoutarou was so willing to slave it out for them. She shrugged, she was happy he was willing to do it; it was extremely useful because Kiyosumi hadn't been able to give them a club advisor even after they won the prefectural tournament and had two players qualify for the individuals.

He placed the rucksack down next to the group and spoke particularly nervously to Saki, "Erm... you are THE Miyanaga Saki…?" Saki just nodded nervously at that, "Miyanaga-sama, please pardon the intrusion, but if you don't mind the bother could I perhaps convince you to write me your autograph?" _Why is he speaking so politely?_

"Erm… sure… no problem" said Saki, who seemed confused. Saki scribbled down her name for Kyoutarou. "Sorry, I don't really have an autograph… My sister says I should just write my name…when people ask… so that's what I did. I hope it's acceptable. Oh... and please just call me Saki… -sama is unnecessary."

Kyoutarou performed an awkward, exaggerated bow, "Absolutely perfect. Thank you. Saki-san." He then took a turn at turning to Nodoka, "So erm… Nodoka and Saki-san are friends?" he asked gingerly.

Yuuki leapt in, "Yeah they are in lo-"

"Yes, we are friends." Nodoka interrupted, embarrassed. _I can't listen to those words out loud. I'm sorry Yuuki, Saki-san._

Awai watched all of this quietly with amusement. That was about to change. She wandered right up to Saki's side, put a hand on her shoulder and looked straight at Nodoka, pure devilry in her eyes. "Nodoka-chan, did you know that Saki-chan here sometimes says your name in her sleep?" she asked whilst somehow managing to keep a perfectly straight face.

Saki's face immediately flushed bright red, "Awai-chan!" she whelped, she turned to Nodoka, waving her arms in a frantic gesture indicating that wasn't the case, "It's… not true I swear Nodoka-chan, please ignore her!"

Nodoka, who had kept up her blush spectacularly ever since they had arrived, nodded. She was careful to keep her eyes averted from the girl known as Oohoshi Awai. _I really wish it was true, though. Come to think of it… she did do it that one time at the camp... I'll remember that forever… That made me so happy… _

"If you say so, Saki-chan." the girl replied incredulously, winking at Nodoka who realised all too late that she had been smiling widely ever since Oohoshi Awai made the comment in the first place. Nodoka quickly turned away from the blonde-haired demon who giggled at her loudly.

"I do say so, Awai-chan! Stop being such a trouble maker!" Saki, failing to keep any scolding she had intended on doing sounding genuine, quickly turned to the Kiyosumi club members without letting Oohoshi Awai get another word in, "I hope you all had a good trip. I don't know how long my sister will be with your president, but I can show you to your room if you like. Onee-chan knows the way so she can take your president there herself so you don't have to worry."

"By that she means I can show you where your room is. You probably wouldn't make it there before daybreak with Saki-chan leading the way." The girl then winked at Saki who was clearly embarrassed by what Nodoka knew to be her weakness.

Saki nodded shyly at her, and spoke in a quiet voice, "Yes, sorry Awai-chan I didn't mean to take undue credit, please could you lead us there?" she asked.

"Okay let's go everyone." Oohoshi Awai at least seemed to regret making Saki genuinely insecure, taking one last nervous look at Saki before setting off in direction of the hotel.

Saki herself walked over to where Nodoka was standing. Nodoka, fearing the worst, began mentally preparing herself against any and all forms of blushing. Saki simply smiled at her and picked up her bag.

"Oh that's not necessary, Saki-san. I can carry it."

"Don't worry Nodoka, I'll carry it. I insist" she said with a smile. _Her pig-tails are just so cute._

Nodoka smiled, wondering why she had been so lucky that this girl had chosen her. She then caught and chastised herself for blushing so easily yet again. _So much for mental preparation._ "Thank you, Saki-san" she managed before following her after the others.

Hisa was surprised at how simple this had turned out to be. The older Miyanaga apparently liked the idea of Saki sleeping in Kiyosumi's room for some reason. Hisa had prepared a long battle-plan in order to get it to happen, but Miyanaga Teru seemed to accept it before Hisa had even gotten a word of it in. _One headache out of the way at least. I wouldn't have bothered breaking up their kiss if I'd known how easy this would be. _The action was actually part of Hisa's battle plan itself; she did it simply because she wanted the elder Miyanaga to see that she would keep it under wraps whenever possible.

Miyanaga Teru continued, "They shouldn't stay in our room at all this time, however. Our coach tends to focus on the players who are not in the starting team and will likely not come to our room at all, but there are over 40 Shiraitodai mahjong club members several of whom will stop by our room at some point, so if anything like that happens word is going get back to her eventually. She would not approve and she has enough power to intervene in such a way that I would have no say. Kiyosumi-"

"Won't have any such problems" Hisa finished for her. Hisa supposed she shouldn't be surprised, but Miyanaga Teru was much less intimidating when she was talking about her sister and seemed touchingly protective, maybe even overly so. "Miyanaga-san, I don't mean to stare a gift horse in the mouth but, why are you so eager for your sister to stay with Nodoka?"

Teru just stared at her expressionlessly. _Ouch, icy! That's the Miyanaga Teru I remember. _Teru continued on as if Hisa hadn't said a word. "Anyway, I think we can agree on that much. We will figure out what happens on match days when the draw has been held."_ I guess Miyanaga Teru doesn't much care for personal questions._ "If there's nothing else, please excuse me."

"No, please. Don't let me keep you, Miyanaga-san."

On their way to their room, Saki dropped back behind the rest of Kiyosumi to walk next to Nodoka, and they were soon hand in hand.

"I…" Nodoka felt herself blushing immediately because of what she was about to say, but did her best to keep talking at least somewhat calmly, "I really like your hair Saki-san… It's… adorable." _That was considerably harder to say than it should have been._

Saki smiled shyly, "Thank you… Nodoka-chan…" She averted her eyes, "Y-your hair is so much longer and prettier though. I wish mine was more like it."

Nodoka shook her head vehemently. "Length isn't everything, Saki-san. Yours is just so silky and smooth and cute and…" realising what she was saying she shut herself up, too suddenly. Nodoka peaked carefully at Saki to see how she had taken it, but she was just looking at her with a smile on her face and she laughed lightly when they made eye contact. Nodoka struggled against a laugh as well as they walked on.

As they were nearing the hotel lobby, Saki squeezed her hand and whispered to her hesitantly, "I'm sorry about before, Nodoka-chan… I wanted to greet you alone… so that I could lead you to your room like you did for me… at the camp… but I would have just gotten you lost, causing you a lot of trouble when you were tired…" Realization dawned on Nodoka. _That's why she insisted on carrying my bag… It is so like Saki to be so wonderfully sentimental like that._

Nodoka smiled and squeezed Saki's hand, "Thank you, Saki. That is so thoughtful of you, really thank you." Saki smiled back at her and returned the squeeze.

"Nodoka-chan…" Saki started after a modest silence, and looked down at her feet and her face was turning adorably red. _What is she so nervous about all of a sudden?_ "Nodoka-chan… Do you mind if…"

"Yes?" Nodoka tried to give her girl as encouraging a smile as she could muster.

Saki continued staring at her own feet, "Do you mind if…I sleep in Kiyosumi's room… tonight….? With you… Err I mean erm…?"

Nodoka halted her with another squeeze of the hand. "Of course you can sleep in our room, as often as you like, Saki-san. I love cuddling with you whilst I… fall asleep…" She looked away, unable to keep her gaze on the girl any longer. _Great. Now I'm embarrassed as well. Why do I always head straight for the humiliating lines?_

Saki was noticeably relieved at least, Nodoka was happy to see. "Oh, good. I'm glad… I was worried I was bothering you… all those times… at the camp."

"I don't think you could possibly bother me, Saki-san" Nodoka told her honestly, "You don't need to be afraid of anything like that, okay?"

Saki nodded happily at that. "Thank you, Nodoka-chan."

After spending 15 minutes taking Saki to her room and back to get her things, they quickly decided to go straight to sleep together. _Saki-san… we are together again._

It was the day of the draw when Nodoka finally opened her eyes. She reached for her alarm clock. _Oh, right I am at the hotel, and Saki-san is in my arms._ She smiled to herself. _This is so nice, maybe I should just go back to sleep._ To her surprise however, she was not the first awake.

"Are you awake?" Nodoka heard a soft voice opened her eyes and nodded down at Saki who was looking up at her. "I don't think anyone else is awake yet." she whispered with a smile on her face.

"Saki-san…"

"Nodoka-chan… Can I..? Can we…?" she whispered surprisingly softly.

Nodoka knew exactly what she was asking and before she even considered her current surroundings or anything at all she nodded.

Nodoka's heart was pounding as Saki head moved forward towards her. _Oh my god… Why did I nod…?_ When their lips touched Nodoka's mind went completely blank. Saki's hands were holding the sides of her head, but her own hands didn't know what to do and eventually lay back down at her sides, defeated. A wonderful calmness overtook her and she just relaxed and enjoyed the kiss… a wonderful calmness that she snapped out of the instant she unwillingly made an imploringly indecent 'mm…' sound in the middle of a room where several people she knew were present. _Oh my god… I need to stop this before anyone hears that ridiculous noise!_ "Hmm…Saki… san…" _It's useless… I can't stop her. "_Mmm… stop… please…" _I bet she would stop if she was the one making such indecent noises..._

To Nodoka's astonishment, and as if in response to her own line of thinking the girl made the most adorable sighing sound she had ever heard… and didn't even seem to notice. _Oh my god oh my god oh my god this is going to be so bad if we are caught. _Nodoka faintly realised she was actually returning the kiss. _Oh my god, Nodoka stop it! Did you really turn into a dirty old man over night? There could be someone awake and listening right now, too polite to say anything! STOP! _Nodoka brought her hands up in an attempt to stop Saki forcefully, but she couldn't convince them to follow through with it.

The sound that Saki was making was having the worst possible effect. Nodoka now realised she wasn't going to be able to stop the kiss even if she wanted to and worse yet was the realization that she didn't, in fact, want it to end at all, even if the entire room were listening in. Her hands, as though she had absolutely no control over them whatsoever were actually wrapping themselves around the girls waist, hugging her tightly to better enjoy the kiss._ I will die of embarrassment if someone is awake right now._

The door chose that moment to open, sending Saki scrambling red-faced into Nodoka's chest, whilst Nodoka couldn't do anything to hide her own face as the president and Mako walked into the room. Nodoka did her best to pretend she was sleeping and relax herself, but she knew her face was likely to be a mess and she had no way to prevent them from seeing it. Her left arm was also still wrapped around Saki, and due to the haste with which they had resumed their 'sleeping' positions the arm was pinned awkwardly underneath her_. _

_We weren't the only ones awake_… _and… her head is on my_… _Oh my god why is this happening?_ The sensation of the girl giggling into her chest was just too much. _Oh my god stop it Saki-san… You are too loud, they will hear! You are making it impossible for me to calm down!_ Nodoka pinched the girl's back gently with the hand that was already awkwardly wrapped around the girl, but that just seemed to make things worse.

Hisa and Mako were quietly discussing the draw that was to take place later that day, but Nodoka did not process a word of the specifics of their conversation. Saki-san had thankfully stopped giggling, but her head was still in its precarious position on her chest. She let out a sigh of relief when they left the room. It seemed they had come back to pick up the book Yumi of Tsuruga had given them and were on their way to breakfast. "Oh my god…" Nodoka whispered… "That was terrible…"

Nodoka opened her eyes to find Saki staring straight at her, wide-eyed and extremely flushed in the face. She was still on her front, supporting herself with her hands whilst her legs were lost inside the futon. Her face was not far from Nodoka's own, and she had a soft expression on her face. Her lips were slightly parted and she appeared to be trembling slightly.

"Saki-san…?" Nodoka said, making sure to keep herself quiet. A few moments passed without a word, Saki seemingly content with staring at her in that slightly odd way. "Saki-san?" she repeated, slightly louder. "Are you okay?"

Saki seemed to pick that moment to come back to earth and she pushed herself up into a kneeling position. She spoke with a whisper, her head down "I'm sorry Nodoka-chan" she was obviously embarrassed about what happened, but she continued on in, in Nodoka's opinion, far too much detail "I didn't know what to do when they came in and I wanted to hide my face so I… I am really sorry… I didn't mean to rest my head… on your… on… there." She spent the entire time she was speaking staring at her hands that were intently fidgeting with the futon's sheets. She was sporting an intense blush. "I'm really sorry Nodoka-chan; you must think I'm the worst."

"No, don't say that Saki-san, I would never think that. It's really fine. I'm just glad they didn't realise we were awake" Nodoka told her quietly. Whilst it was an honest statement, her real motivation was to make Saki stop talking… about that. The day had gotten off to the worst possible start. _That's a lie. You enjoyed every second of it._ The evil part of her mind did not stop tormenting her as she got up and changed.

Whilst she was in the bathroom she deliberately splashed herself with water in an attempt to calm herself down. It worked surprisingly well, allowing her to leave the bathroom feeling far more stable. She suggested to Saki that they should get up and follow their seniors to breakfast which Saki agreed to with a happy nod. Nodoka held out her hand and when Saki took it (without even a moment's hesitation, Nodoka was happy to note) they set off.

Whilst they were walking to breakfast Saki squeezed her hand, "Sorry about… when you woke up… Nodoka-chan… I didn't really give you any choice…"

"I suppose but… but it would be fair to say that I didn't do much to stop it, and I really wanted to kiss you… because… we didn't get to yesterday…" Nodoka looked sheepishly over at Saki who was smiling brightly back at her. Nodoka noticed the girl hadn't tied her hair into pigtails today, and instead was wearing it loose about her shoulders as she had at the camp. Nodoka didn't mind, the girl was still adorable.

When they had their food they found their way towards the table that the president and Mako were sitting at.

"Oh. Good morning you two. Did you have a good sleep?" the president asked them.

"Good morning president. I slept well, thank you." Saki nodded in agreement and echoed Nodoka's greeting.

"I've been looking at these teams that we could draw today. Shiraitodai played against a few of them at the spring tournament, didn't they Saki-chan?" _-chan? She could at least pretend she doesn't realise she is up to no good._

"Erm… I… err… Yes… they did…" the flustered Saki looked to Nodoka like a drowning person might have looked at a rescue boat. _Why is she so cute when she's embarrassed?_ _I almost want to feign ignorance so I can watch her flounder about a bit more._

Unable to say no to her girl, Nodoka stepped in, "President. You know as well as I do that Saki-san will have been instructed not to say anything about that to us. You shouldn't pressure her when she is outnumbered like this."

The president smiled at her with her customary cheeky grin, "Yes of course Nodoka. I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. I was merely making idle conversation." Saki laughed nervously at that and busied herself with her breakfast.

They ate in silence for what can't have been longer than about 15 seconds before Mako spoke up, "So Miyanaga-san. Will you be watching the draw with us? I guess most of Shiraitodai will skip it, being seeded 'n all."

"Yes, if you don't mind the intrusion. I'm really interested to see where Kiyosumi end up in the bracket!" she said surprisingly enthusiastically.

Mako raised her eyebrows, "Of course, we would love to have you with us. Shiraitodai are on side B of the ladder, right?"

"Yes. We are with Eisui girl's school on side B, and Rinkai are with Shindouji on side A."

Mako nodded at that, "Would you prefer it if Kiyosumi were on side A or B?

"Side B! If you are side B we can play against each other in the quarters, the semis and also the final!" she said with a bright smile.

"That's if we both keep getting second place and first place, Saki-san." Nodoka told her. "That's very unlikely; there are lots of really strong schools here besides Shiraitodai and Kiyosumi, and mahjong is a game based heavily on luck."

"Wow, talk about pressure Nodoka-chan, talking about us in the same breath as Shiraitodai like that…" The president said, sounding slightly off in Nodoka's opinion.

"Why not? We can beat anyone with a bit of luck." Nodoka told her calmly.

Saki spoke up in rapturous agreement, "That's right Nodoka-chan. Kiyosumi are so strong. You have so many strong players. Yuuki-chan, Maho-chan, Someya-san and Takei-san are all really strong! Nodoka-chan too of course! I really love your bad waits Takei-san. It's so fun to watch you!" The president just laughed at that, but Saki was smiling so beautifully that Nodoka almost didn't realise what the girl had said.

"I don't like her bad waits at all!" she directed at Saki, mustering up a disapproving tone that she wasn't feeling. _Saki-san makes being negative so much harder._ Turning to the president she continued, "You play so well besides those waits, president. I will never understand why you feel the need to pick the worst tiles to make waits on."

The president only shrugged, but it was Mako had other ideas, speaking up in a glib voice, "Hey now Nodoka you have some pretty ridiculous wins of your own, or did you forget about the prefectural final already?"

"I certainly have not forgotten that match Someya-senpai, but that has nothing to do with it. That was just luck. A once-in-a-lifetime win. The media have gone on and on about it for some reason- I understand that it was a last minute come-back win, in a final no less, but they keep overhyping superstitious nonsense and not the win itself."

"I wonder if Miyanaga-san would agree with your take on it." Mako said pointedly.

"Err I don't know anything about that…" Saki responded, surprisingly quietly.

"Are you okay, Saki-san? You don't have to worry about what I think. Even if you thought I had called upon the powers of a demon like parts of the media seem to think I would still love you. Err… I mean erm…" Cutting her losses, she stopped talking. _Ah why why why do I have to do this all the time?_

Saki looked up at that, but it was Mako, her face twisted into an enormous grin, who spoke first. "Love huh? Is that what you two were doing this morning?"

"We didn't do anything this morning Someya-senpai. I would prefer it if you didn't have such vulgar ideas!" Nodoka thundered, far too loudly. _Oh my god it just gets worse and worse. _They were getting some serious stares from the people at the table directly behind Nodoka and she could feel them on her back. Both the president and Mako were clearly struggling not to laugh at what the situation had become. _This is so humiliating._ Saki also had a scarlet red blush on her face, and was staring intently downwards. _At least she is embarrassed as well._

"So you knew we were awake?" Saki asked them quietly after about a minute passed in relative quiet, a minute that Mako and the president all spent laughing silently to Nodoka's increasing discomfort. _How does she have the nerve to ask them that?_ _Why am I the only one who always feels so humiliated?_

"Nodoka's face made it way too obvious, but you were pretty clearly giggling, Miyanaga-san." the president told her with a smile. _Oh my god… my face… made it 'way too obvious'…? Did she really have to say it like that?_

"Oh" said Saki, "so that's what it was." Nodoka couldn't force herself to look up; instead deciding it was a good time to lose herself in her tea. _Calm down, just calm down. The worst is past._

Fortunately, the worst was certainly past, and Mako and the president soon excused themselves leaving Nodoka behind to sit waiting patiently for Saki to finish her food.

"Sorry Nodoka-chan… I just had so much fun talking to your senpais that I forgot to eat I guess…" she said.

Nodoka smiled at her, "Don't worry at all Saki-san. You are so cute whilst you eat that I have fun just watching you go."

Saki pouted, "Nodoka-chan!" she whined, adorably blushing and looking down and sideways, anywhere but at Nodoka. "How am I supposed to eat now?"

Nodoka laughed at the performance behind her hand, "I know, Saki-san I was just teasing. Please take your time eating; we don't want you getting indigestion."

When Saki didn't move to eat Nodoka moved forward and gently took the spoon from her grasp, which yielded easily. She scooped up some of the miso soup and made an aeroplane sound as she moved it towards Saki's mouth. The girl laughed and blushed so cutely that it took all of Nodoka's concentration just to keep up the revving sound she was making. _When did I switch to a motorbike?_ When Saki finally opened her mouth Nodoka pulled the spoon back and put it in her own mouth with a wink.

"Nodoka-chan!" Saki stared opened mouthed at her, before bursting into giggles at which point Nodoka found she couldn't hold it in anymore and joined her. They sat there laughing at each other for a good thirty seconds before Nodoka felt like she had regained enough composure to try again. The idea that it was an indirect kiss somehow made it even more exciting to Nodoka.

"Open wide" she said, heart pounding. _I didn't realise feeding someone could be so exciting. _"That's a good girl!" she said with calmness she was not feeling when Saki opened her mouth. Saki was about as red as a tomato.

"It's so embarrassing Nodoka-chan…" she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"Now now Saki-san, you won't ever become a big strong girl with talk like that." Nodoka was surprised by just how much she remembered of her Mother's feeding habits from when she was a child. She zeroed in with a second spoonful. "Say ahhhhh."

"Nodo-" Saki began, and Nodoka didn't waste the opportunity. She put the spoon in the moment she opened her mouth, carefully avoiding her teeth. She was having a hard time not laughing at how red Saki was, and she certainly enjoyed the sight of it.

Saki allowed her to feed her after that, and Nodoka was through with about half of the soup when she heard a female passer-by whispering to her friend, "Oh so cute, she's feeding her!"

Saki was almost shaking with embarrassment, but Nodoka felt surprisingly willing to go on despite both the spectacle she was creating and the fact that her heart was pounding almost painfully hard. _Or perhaps it's actually 'because of', and not 'despite' that last thing. _The way Saki only slightly opened her mouth to receive the spoon, the way the spoon gently rubbed her lips on the way in, the way the spoon slightly grazed her teeth as she withdrew it and the way their eyes would lock for a few seconds whilst the spoon was in her mouth with her lips closed around it. Nodoka found it all exhilarating.

Saki was staring at her in disbelief when she went for more miso soup with the spoon. Nodoka was apparently not the only one who had heard the passer-by's comment, and she was worried Saki would be too embarrassed to continue. Just when Nodoka thought Saki would refuse she made eye contact and parted her lips for her once more. Nodoka recognised just how intense the game (if that's what it was) had become, and that she was currently doing it in silence; Nodoka had not uttered a word or even made a sound for the last few spoonfuls. _Saki-san has suffered enough, I should end this now. I really shouldn't be so selfish. _

"I'm sorry for embarrassing you Saki-san; I'll stop now, okay?" She told her, handing her back the spoon.

"It's okay… you can keep going…" Saki said, so shyly. "I like… I-I like being fed by Nodoka-chan… even if it's embarrassing…" _Lines like that might just kill me, Saki-san._

Nodoka found her heart speeding up again in anticipation of resuming their game. Saki gingerly passed her the spoon back, and she began once more.

Nodoka didn't think she'd ever be so disappointed at reaching the end of a bowl of miso soup again in her life. "All gone" she said, being a touch too obvious in her disappointment.

"That was… strange… but kind of fun…"

"Yes… it really was" Nodoka agreed. She looked away, embarrassed but her eyes found a clock on the wall. _Ah now I remember, the draw starts soon._ "Shall we head for the draw, Saki-san? We have to catch a train within the next 20 or so minutes or we might miss the start of it."

"Okay, Nodoka-chan."

Hisa and Mako were making their way to the subway near the hotel when they were stopped by a reporter. Hisa thought that that was a very strange thing, considering how little their school was known compared to other schools, but she soon realised why they had been singled out. The reporter wasted no time in asking about their princess.

"Could you tell me about Haramura Nodoka's relationship with Miyanaga Saki?" the female reporter asked with a glint in her eyes.

"There is nothing much to tell really. They became friends at the inter-middle tournament last year, and are still friends now. I can't think of anything else you would be interested in." _I'm going to have to have an awkward conversation with them about this… and Yuuki and Maho too. What a pain._

The reporter did not stop there, walking alongside Hisa and Mako shamelessly with a notepad and pen in her hand. "There have been rumours about the specifics of that relationship, I wonder if there is any truth to them…?"

"Sorry, I have no idea what rumours you could possibly be referring to; you will have to enlighten me." It was a shame they didn't offer a crash course in dealing with reporters at Kiyosumi High School. Hisa was unsure how to best deal with this woman, but knew enough to know that she should probably just pretend Nodoka and Saki were just friends and that she had heard absolutely nothing to the contrary.

"Well, Takei Hisa-chan, I wouldn't even dream of stating a rumour as if it were a fact, but apparently there have been sightings of certain… physical displays of affection… between the two of them, not going into the specifics of course. Not noticed anything like that?"

"No can't say that I have." She turned to Mako, "Have you noticed anything, Mako?"

"Nope. I can't think of a single thing like that."

She turned back to the reporter, "Sorry we can't be more help I guess."


	16. Chapter 16 - Miyanaga Saki

**Chapter 16 - Miyanaga Saki**

* * *

The draw turned out to be quite hectic, but at the very least the train ride had been relatively painless. Nodoka was surprised to find that there were seemingly dozens of Nagano's prefectural participants that had followed them out to Tokyo. Saki was not Kiyosumi's only guest for the draw: The entire team of both Ryuumonbuchi and Tsuruga along with Kazekoshi's Fukuji Mihoko and Ikeda Kana were all in attendance as the team captains, each representing a team that had conquered prefectural qualifier tournaments of their own, went out to make a drawing.

Nodoka sat next to Saki and Amae Koromo who insisted on sitting next to 'Nonoka.' It wasn't the first time she had called Nodoka that, but she didn't mind. It was a fairly cute nickname and she didn't want to get uptight about something so trivial in front of Saki. The president looked surprisingly rigid when she walked out to make her drawing. Nodoka thought that was especially strange, the president usually brushed off everything thrown at her.

She watched as the president picked out the number 38. _Side B._ They had drawn the side with Eisui and Himematsu, which was a pretty bad draw in Nodoka's opinion. It was one of the only quarter final routes that would see them face two powerhouses before the semis, and the other was on Side B as well. They would then meet Shiraitodai who were probably the strongest team at the competition as well as probably Senriyama in the semi-final. Saki on the other hand was ecstatic that they were on side B and brought Nodoka into a close hug in celebration. Nodoka was mildly confused but found she could still enjoy the closeness, despite not quite understanding what they were celebrating.

"Yes, Saki-san we will meet in the semi-finals. But that's only if we both make it."

"Nuh-uh Nodoka-chan. We definitely will both make it. I know it." She smiled at Nodoka, making her blush.

Nodoka turned away, "We will definitely do our best to get there Saki-san, but you can't know it."

"I do!" she said with zero hesitation. Nodoka noted that Saki was being surprisingly stubborn about this. She shrugged it off, it's not like it mattered in particular.

She addressed the girl calmly. "Well, that means we don't play for a few days Saki-san. You don't have a match for even longer, right?" When Saki nodded she continued, "Do you want to do anything in particular, today? Our team will probably be practising at some point but I think the president said today would be a free day if we drew side B."

"Erm…what I really want... but we can't anyway…"

"What is it Saki-san? I promise you I will do whatever you want if I can."

"No I'm just being silly. It's just that I really want to play against you…" Saki, dejected, looked down at her feet.

Nodoka smiled at the cute girl, "I understand how you feel Saki-san. At the camp I was so envious that I couldn't play against your sister and Oohoshi Awai, but more than anything I just wanted to play against you again… I suppose you are right, we really can't do that." She reached out and touched her hand. "We just have to reach the semi-finals, remember?"

Saki smiled and nodded, "Thank you Nodoka-chan, we will definitely play together in the semi-final match. Do you mind if we leave? It's a bit loud."

"Okay then. Let's go Saki-san."

They ended up just walking around Tokyo, looking at stores and doing nothing in particular. For lunch they stopped at a ramen stand.

"I've… never had ramen before…" Nodoka admitted as she was about to begin eating.

"What, really?" Saki looked at her incredulously. "Try it, it's delicious. I promise."

Nodoka couldn't help but notice that she was being watched intently as she sucked up the noodles. _Wow it's really good._

"See Nodoka-chan, I told you they were tasty."

Nodoka looked up, slightly embarrassed, "Is it really so easy to tell what I'm thinking?"

Saki laughed nervously and shrugged.

About thirty minutes had passed when they found themselves walking past a beautiful lake, hand in hand and Nodoka realised that she was having a truly good time with her girl again. They had come full circle now with them back in Tokyo and just wandering around like this, and Nodoka was euphoric at how their relationship had turned out. _Nearly full circle. We have come nearly full circle. We just need to play against each other before it's complete._ She stole a glance at her girl, who was looking down at the ground with a cute smile on her face as they walked along. She appeared to be deliberately stepping around cracks in the pavement, a game Nodoka used to play when she was small._ I bet she doesn't even realise how adorable that is._

They came upon a small cabin that was apparently renting out small boats for use on the lake. The two girls stopped and looked out across the lake, but as far as Nodoka could tell there were only one, maybe two boats currently in use, and the only boat that was clearly visible was quite a distance off.

"This is Inokashira Lake, Saki-san… It's said that if a couple rides on a boat there their relationship will end…" Such superstitious nonsense was absurd of course, but Nodoka would let Saki decide whether it was worth doing or not.

"Oh. I read about that actually."

"Was it in _The Lilies by the Docks_ by Makise Yumi?" Nodoka asked her, interested.

She nodded happily, "You read it too?"

"I read that book as well, yes."

"Ahh, so Nodoka-chan too." Nodoka felt herself blushing but Saki looked across the lake so earnestly that Nodoka could not stop herself from following her gaze, "When you look out at such a huge, beautiful lake like this, don't you just feel like maybe you are on your own little island? Like maybe you are stranded in the ocean, maybe you are the only survivor of a shipwreck… or something… and that maybe… maybe you are the only person left in the world. I don't know… I think things like that sometimes…."

"You really are a bookworm aren't you, Saki-san?" Nodoka asked her with a smile.

"Umm I guess... Is it strange?" she asked, seeming to be genuinely concerned that Nodoka was making fun of her. _Nothing could be further from the truth, Saki-san._

"No, I was just kind of thinking… the same thing…" she told the girl honestly. Nodoka looked back from the lake to the girl she was holding hands with, and their eyes locked. _For some reason… I really want to kiss her now…_

_"_Nodoka…chan…" Saki whispered, and suddenly they really were the only two people left in the world. Nodoka was there, Saki was there, and nothing else mattered. _Nobody_ else mattered. _Her lips, her smell, her smile, her eyes... This is why it's worth being alive._ Saki was making that ridiculously cute sighing sound again, and somewhere far off Nodoka realised she was responding with her own absurd noises.

Nodoka, uncaring, leaned into the kiss, her hands interlocked behind Saki's back, hugging her delicate body towards her own. Saki's own hands were running wild through Nodoka's hair and caressing the back and sides of her head, but they were so gentle and soft that Nodoka thought they might have put her to sleep if her heart wasn't pounding so fiercely. _Her hands feel so good… "_Nodoka…cha…" she whispered again, so cutely.

The kiss ended all too soon, but Nodoka enjoyed the following moments of staring into the girl's eyes nearly as much. "Saki-san…" the unbidden words escaped from her lips. Nodoka was just thinking that it wouldn't be a bad thing to just stare at her like this for a good while longer when she became conscious of the fact they were in public. Startled, she looked around for any passer-by's who might have seen them, and blushed red when she realised Saki was regarding her with confusion. _Why is it always me?_

Saki just smiled at her, "Let's keep going together, okay Nodoka-chan?" Nodoka nodded at that and they set back off. _I wonder if she realises the double meaning of her words… I will keep going with you forever, Saki-san._

Nodoka was glad they were both girls. Whilst kisses like that were probably (okay, definitely) crossing the line, two girls being clingy in public together didn't attract too many unwanted stares or questions. Normal couples would be frowned upon for being too open with their public displays of affection, and she shuddered at the thought of what two males would have to go through in such a situation. _That's one perk at least._ Nodoka had also read on the internet that it could soon be possible for same-sex couples to have children through IPS cells. Nodoka hated it when her mind drifted to such far off things, but she couldn't help but be glad to have such an option should she and Saki still be together later on.

They came upon a souvenir store that was selling cute looking phone straps, and they had one shaped like a penguin that Nodoka found adorable. Saki set her eyes on a blue, eerie looking toy that somehow managed to be extremely cute at the same time as slightly off-putting.

"I really like that one…" she said when she noticed Nodoka fiddling with her penguin, "Shall we buy them?"

Nodoka nodded, and 5 minutes later they were walking from the shop with their purchases in their hands.

Nodoka stopped and turned to Saki, only to find her girl in the midst of the exact same action "Erm…" they both said together, and smiled at each other. _We had the same exact thought! _Nodoka was sure of it.

Saki began, "Would you…"

Nodoka continued for her, "like to exchange..."

They finished together, "Yours and mine?" They smiled brightly at each other as they exchanged the now precious trinkets. The blush on Saki's face was adorable, and Nodoka's realisation that her own face was a mess of red and pink for once didn't matter to her in the slightest. They interlocked hands and continued, perfectly content.

It was close to 6 pm when they walked hand-in-hand into the hotel. _Tokyo really is different to Nagano, trains run at all hours and so frequently._ They hadn't had to wait long at all for a suitable train to arrive, and had spent the 15 minute journey huddled together on a side bench in a packed carriage. Saki texted her sister to let them know they were on their way back and Nodoka sent one to the president as well.

Miyanaga Teru was waiting for them as they arrived, "Welcome back." She looked at her sister, "did you have fun?"

Saki nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah we had great fun, right Nodoka-chan?" When Nodoka mimicked her nod she continued "Thanks for coming to meet us, Onee-chan!"

"No problem." Nodoka couldn't help but notice how different Teru treated her sister to anyone else, including the other Shiraitodai team members and how much softer her expression was when she was talking to or even about her. Apart from Saki, only Oohoshi Awai appeared to receive any kind of warm treatment from the formidable girl. She appeared to even smile for a second when Saki had thanked her, "Would you like to eat? Awai is saving us a table at the restaurant."

"Do you want to eat then, Nodoka-chan?" Saki asked her; happily oblivious to the possibility her sister may have been hoping to dine with her privately.

Nodoka was floundering for a response when Miyanaga Teru herself saved her, "It's fine, you are welcome to join."

Awai had already ordered a pot of green tea for the table, and she surprisingly stood up to greet them almost politely. "Hey there, Saki-chan, Nodoka-chan." She smiled at Saki with a now familiar glean in her eye, "did you enjoy your date?" _Now that's the Oohoshi Awai I remember._

Saki answered first, "Erm I… I don't think it was… a date… but yes I really had a good time." She smiled and looked down, leaving Nodoka wondering what she should say.

"Yes… I really had fun too" she managed feebly.

Teru was looking at her as passively as ever as Nodoka said it, but when she spoke it was in a strangely normal manner, "Nodoka, you don't have to be nervous. Just relax." Nodoka was pleasantly surprised, and thought maybe people including herself just misunderstood the girl. That was until she continued at least. "I am still interested in having you move to Tokyo" she said, incredibly maintaining her monotonous 'normal' tone of voice.

"Huh?" Saki started. She looked from Teru to Nodoka and back again in quick motions. "What is Nodoka-chan doing?"

Miyanaga Teru answered before Nodoka could think clearly enough to get a word in. "Last year I talked to Nodoka about moving to Tokyo and joining Shiraitodai." She turned to Nodoka who was feeling about as nervous as she could ever remember being, "Back then you said you could not move because your Father would be stuck in Nagano for a year. That year is up, is it not?"

Miyanaga Teru continued without letting Nodoka even answer, "I researched Kiyosumi High School. It's an average school with slightly above mid-level entrance test requirements and they have no mahjong background or history whatsoever. Shiraitodai as a school is far superior in every way, whether you intend on going professional with mahjong or not. I could talk to your Father if you would like. I am sure we would agree that it's the superior choice for your future. My sister will also be there."

Nodoka found herself blushing at that last thing, and the table was noticeably silent following the older Miyanaga's words. Saki was watching her in a state of near-shock. They were evidently waiting for her to speak but she didn't know what to say. Miyanaga Teru had done it again, and Nodoka should have known better. Miyanaga Teru was even more brazen than Saki was and clearly did not believe in softening her words.

_She is not even trying to hide the fact that she prepared this assault. She even researched Kiyosumi… _Nodoka was busy spacing out when she realised their waiter was with them, awaiting their order. She faintly heard Saki ordering the special and simply gave up trying to think about what she wanted and requested the same when her turn came up.

Oohoshi Awai seemed like she was not surprised at all by the conversation, evidently she knew what Teru was going to speak about here, and after the waiter left she spoke up. "What does your Father do, Nodoka-chan?"

"Erm... he's a lawyer…"

"So he was stuck in Nagano for a year, but what about now?"

"I… don't know…yet…" That was not strictly untrue. Her Father had actually been angry when he found out she picked a school with such low prestige and spent over an hour threatening to move her out of the school even though it was already part way through the year, calling Mahjong a silly game based purely on luck. She had only managed to get him to relent by promising to win the national mahjong tournament, but there was no way she could tell them that. The only certain thing however was that her Father definitely wanted her out of Kiyosumi, but she wasn't sure where her options lay.

Saki spoke up for the first time since the subject came up, "Onee-chan I don't think you should pressure Nodoka-chan like this… She can't move all the way out to Tokyo for me… I already know that… Thank you for looking out for me but I think… I think this is too far…" Nodoka was looking at her in a state of wonder… _What did I do to deserve her?_

Teru seemed to accept that, but Awai wasn't convinced, "But Saki-chan I don't see the problem." She turned to Nodoka, "Nodoka-chan, you really like Saki-chan, right? You love mahjong and we all want you to come play on our team next year. It's simple; just tell your dad you want to move here. "

"You are… correct, Oohoshi-san."

"Call me Awai."

"Yes thank you, Awai-san…"

"-chan is better than -san!" she interrupted once more_._

"Yes. Awai-chan. You are right… I… I love Saki-san." She took care not to look anywhere near Miyanaga Teru as she said the thing. "I really… do… and I want to be with her as much as I can… and Shiraitodai are a more impressive school all around I admit, mahjong-wise in particular. But there are so many more factors… I don't know if my Father can move out to Tokyo or find work here or if he would let me move out here alone… I don't know if my Mother would approve… I would have to abandon my mahjong club… and my friends…"

"Haramura Nodoka." Teru interrupted, "You don't owe your mahjong club anything. They would never have beaten Amae Koromo without you, and should you leave Kiyosumi you would leave the club in a superior state to when you joined it, and Kiyosumi will have already benefited as a school because of your prefectural qualifier win. Saki is content with letting you make up your own mind however, so let's leave it at that. Tomorrow is the day before Kiyosumi's first match. What will you be doing, Saki?"

Saki, happy to get off the previous topic perked up. "I don't know Onee-chan. It depends on what Nodoka-chan wants to do. Nodoka-chan and her team. I don't want to intrude on their practise."

Nodoka nodded, also eager to get onto a new subject, "I'm sure president wouldn't mind having you around for our practise Saki-san, and I most certainly wouldn't. I also don't think we will spend the entire day practising; president doesn't like overworking us on the day before a match. We should ask her about it."

"Who are Kiyosumi up against in the first round?" Oohoshi Awai asked.

The question was directed at Nodoka but it was Saki who answered, "They are up against Nogomi High School, Chiyomi high school and Kosagaki Business School." _Wow she has a really good memory, I am not sure I could have listed all their names off like that and I'm the one supposed to be playing them._

"I don't recognise any of those. Kiyosumi can beat them right Teru?" Awai asked her.

"Kiyosumi should make it through the first round at least."

Awai put her finger to her chin, "If Kiyosumi get to the quarter finals they play against erm…"

"Eisui are the seeded school in their block and Himematsu will probably be there." Teru told them. "I didn't recognise anyone from the other group."

"Oh I remember Eisui. They have Jindai Komaki. She's really good."

"She will be the vanguard, but I think Kiyosumi will be fine against her. Kiyosumi and Himematsu's vanguards are not strong enough to properly trigger her I don't think. I suppose it depends on the other team that makes it."

"Properly trigger her?" Nodoka couldn't help but blurt out. _What on earth does that mean?_ Nodoka noticed Saki glance and smile at her for some reason when she said it.

Miyanaga Teru, on the other hand, ignored it, "You should be more worried about their captain. Iwato Kasumi. She is their most dangerous player against Kiyosumi and she will be up against you, Nodoka."

"Nodoka-chan will beat her, right onee-chan?" Saki asked. She seemed more confident about Kiyosumi's chances than Nodoka was.

Teru picked up her tea before answering, "I honestly don't know Saki. It is hard to say how their play styles will coincide."

"Will you watch it with me, onee-chan?" Saki asked with a big smile on her face.

Teru looked up from her tea. _Is that another smile? I don't think I've ever noticed so much emotion from the girl before. She really does love her sister._ Nodoka found she was beginning to warm up to the older Miyanaga, after all."Yes Saki" she said calmly, "I will watch it with you, and so will Awai."

Awai nodded surprisingly brightly at that, "For sure! I like Kiyosumi's vice-captain! She's cute and that hand she scored at the prefecture qualifiers was incredible!"

"Ah you mean Maho. I bet she would faint if she knew she had Oohoshi Awai for a fan." Nodoka said with a smile.

She laughed at that, "I am! Even Teru was impressed with that one hand, her erm… what was it? Sanbaiman I think on her dealership, and it was so fast! I mean it was so fast! Saki-chan was so surprised she almost forgot to celebrate."

"Awai-chan!" Saki stropped, mock pouting at the blonde. Nodoka was surprised at how easy it was to talk to the three of them. The Shiraitodai team was less scary than she thought; in particular Oohoshi Awai was surprisingly easy to talk to. The rest of the meal passed easily, and she managed to engage in at least all of the mahjong discussion. She could not help but think about what the elder Miyanaga said though. There were so many reasons to move, but there were also so many reasons to stay. Her Father would certainly prefer her to go to Shiraitodai than Kiyosumi, which Miyanaga Teru clearly already knew, but Nodoka didn't know if it was even possible.

It was more than that though; she wasn't actually certain she wanted to go to Shiraitodai. Her relationship with Saki was incredibly important to her, so much so that she was even afraid of scaring the girl away by spending too much time with her. _What is wrong with me? That's so irrational._ But that didn't seem to make any difference when it came to Saki, Nodoka knew. _Great, now I'm rationalizing my irrational thoughts…_ She had, time and time again, done and thought irrational things thanks to the girl, but this was a first.

There were two other major problems she had with leaving Kiyosumi. One was named Yuuki and the other was named Maho. Those two girls represented the first two stable friends she had ever known. There was a safeness and a security in being friends with them that she had never felt before, even with her old friends from Nara who she had not heard from in years. She did not want to leave friends behind again, especially ones as important as the two of them were. She would really miss Mako as well, although the president who had also been an extremely important friend to her would be leaving Kiyosumi next year anyway. She sighed inwardly and continued eating.

When they were finished eating they saw Shiraitodai off and made their way to the Kiyosumi room. The special dinner Nodoka had ordered was not bad at all, which was fairly fortunate. When they were ready to leave, Teru tried to pay for the entire table, but Nodoka was not about to allow that to happen and insisted on paying for her portion at least. She would have liked paying for Saki as well but decided that probably would have been rude with Miyanaga Teru there, so she didn't try.

Hisa was talking to Mako in the Kiyosumi room when Nodoka and Saki came in, hand in hand unsurprisingly. Their princess was probably treading on thin ice there. There was at least one reporter who had been asking about them during the day, and there could easily be more of them around. "Welcome back you two" she told them, "Did you have a fun day off?"

"Yes thank you president" Nodoka replied, "How was your day?"

"Fine, not bad. We just hung out around the hotel mostly and spent an hour or two at the hotel's swimming pool. It's really nice; you two should definitely go at some point. Maho, Yuuki and Kyoutarou were just here but they went off to find tacos I think."

"Yuuki again with the tacos…" Nodoka let out a sigh, "she really loves those things."

"That she does" Mako said with a sigh. Hisa noticed that Saki was fidgeting with the hem of her Shiraitodai uniform, and Nodoka seemed restless as well.

"You have something on your minds?" she asked them. They were clearly anxious about something.

"Yes, sorry president. I was wondering what the plan was for tomorrow. Will Saki-san be able to join us for the practise for example?"

She smiled, "Absolutely. You are more than welcome to join us, Saki-san. We would love to have you around and I actually need to speak to you two about something else too."

"Yes president?" Nodoka asked, polite as ever.

"A reporter stopped us as we were making our way to the draw today. She was asking all sorts of awkward questions. Your two's names came up." Mako smirked, but Hisa just shrugged at her. _How else am I supposed to phrase it?_

"I see…" Nodoka, who was clearly embarrassed continued slowly, "We will of course be more careful but…"

"But..?" Hisa prompted when the girl's silence stretched on.

"But…"

Nodoka was struggling to finish whatever thought she had but suddenly seemed to have found something mightily interesting on the ceiling to look at, but Saki continued for her, "But we… were kind of… less careful today already…"

Mako was bordering on simply just laughing out loud at the two girls with their intense blushing after the comment. Hisa ignored her friend and spoke to the girls, praying that Yuuki and Maho would soon burst into the room to put the atmosphere back to normal, "Don't worry about that, what is done is done, we will just have to hope no one saw you. But from now on be a little more careful okay?"

Nodoka sounded as normal as ever when she responded, but her cheeks were still clearly red. "Yes of course president, thank you for informing us."

"No problem Nodoka. You might also want to mentally prepare yourselves for those sorts of questions. If she asked me and Mako about it, it won't be long before she or someone else asks you directly."

"That is a good idea. Do you think we should talk about it to get our story straight, Saki-san?" Nodoka asked her.

Saki looked back at her before dropping her head, staring at the ground sullenly, "N-Nodoka-chan… Takei-san… I hate it… Can't we just be honest?" _Oh wow. _Hisa glanced quickly at both Nodoka and Mako, and quickly understood that they had responded in the same way that she had to that. Saki, noticing the reactions continued, "I guess… I'm being stupid somehow but… I just don't understand why we can't just ignore them… I don't want to spend my time here with Nodoka-chan hiding like that…"

"Erm, Miyanaga-san" Hisa began, "Hasn't your sister talked to you about this?"

"She has but… "

Nodoka interrupted her, "Saki-san, you are so sweet to talk like that, but imagine all the problems it would cause for Shiraitodai, your sister, your coach, you yourself and even your Mother. We could even be forced apart. Trust me when I say it would be better for people not to know, okay?"

The girl bashfully nodded at Nodoka at that, apparently she understood. _I envy these girls. They are so unbelievably innocent. And brave. Surprisingly brave._

"Thank you for warning us anyway, president. Saki-san and I were planning on spending the next thirty minutes or so at the bath, would you two like to join us?"

"Nah, you two go enjoy yourselves."

"Okay, thank you president, we will see you later." They both bowed and they left them there. Mako wasted no time in smirking at her when the door closed behind them.

"Be quiet you. I still need to tell Yuuki and Maho which will be a pain."

"I don't envy you, president."

"Does Kyoutarou know yet?"

"I don't think so."

"At least I don't have to tell him then."

"He will find out eventually, president."

Hisa sighed, "The poor guy will probably be devastated… I hope he is still willing to run our errands for us when the cat is out of the bag on that one."

"You really are the devil." Mako told her with her customary smile.

Nodoka was busy washing herself when Yuuki and Maho stormed into the bath room, completely oblivious to the other people there. Saki was already in the bath and Nodoka told them to shush a bit when they noticed her. Paying her no mind they jumped into the bath and were busy pestering Saki when Nodoka finally made her way into the bath herself. _They didn't even wash first… They are so bad mannered._

Nodoka was half expecting Saki to want them to wash each other's backs and hair when they entered the room, but Nodoka didn't think she would be able to cope with that. She feigned ignorance, busying herself with her own hair and back before Saki could say anything, and fortunately Saki didn't press it. As she relaxed in warm water, she wondered why and how bathing could get so awkward. _I used to have absolutely no problem with it at all, but now it's constantly on my mind. Was all it took to turn me into a dirty old man just a few weeks without the girl? _

After fifteen minutes passed they were joined by Ikeda Kana who seemed to consider Yuuki her rival for some reason and they were going at it rather loudly. Nodoka had only just been able to get comfortable in the room after barely being able to calm herself down merely because Saki was present, but her peace of mind was ruined. Saki herself was near passed out, resting half in and half out of the water with her head resting in her arms on the side of the bath. Nodoka made her way over to the girl, "Saki-san, I think I am going to get out now okay?"

The girl seemed to be in a daze when she looked up at her red faced from the bath, "Umm y-yes okay" she managed after a few moments. Nodoka smiled at her favourite girl and made her way back to the changing room.

Nodoka was nearly done drying her hair when Saki caught up with her in the changing room, and Nodoka found herself all too aware of the girl's nakedness when she began drying her own hair behind her. Nodoka forced herself to face the wall. _Nodoka you really have turned into a pervert._

"Saki-san… I'll go and get us some drinks okay?" she said, trying not to sound too awkward as she left the room. _I really need to pull myself together. What would she think if she knew I was having such thoughts?_ She bought a pair of iced coffees and found a place to sit within sight of the changing room exits, she was not about to allow Saki to get lost.

The girl soon appeared in the doorway, looking left and right. "Saki-san" Nodoka called._ I will never tire of her smile. _Nodoka enjoyed the idea that it was seeing her that had brought on that beautiful smile in the first place. The very real sense of pride was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the smile in the end though, and Nodoka wished she could imprint the entirety of it into her mind so that it was more than just a memory to recall when they were apart.

"Nodoka-chan!" she called as she jogged over to the table she was at.

Nodoka felt slightly awkward once she was seated however, and she knew why_. I wish I could stop being so indecent towards her._ It seemed like she wasn't the only one struggling with something however with Saki being noticeably quiet. "Saki-san, is something wrong?" she asked her.

"Ermm… No not really" she responded, looking away. _She's such a terrible liar._ _But why? Why is she lying to me?_ Nodoka couldn't help but feel slightly hurt; she thought Saki wouldn't lie to her about anything.

"Are you sure, Saki-san? You can talk to me about anything right?" Nodoka asked her, trying not to betray her hurt to the girl. _I have no right to be hurt, the girl is allowed some secrets._

"Umm… I know… It's really no big deal" Saki told her.

Just as Nodoka was contemplating pushing the issue further Yuuki and Maho arrived and were arguing about something ridiculous yet again. Maho seemed to have made the mistake of suggesting that Tacos weren't the tastiest dish in creation and Yuuki had a lot to say about what she thought of that opinion.

"Hey you two, have fun in the bath?" Saki asked them with a small smile as they were sitting down.

"Yeah! That Kazekoshi girl wants to play me at mahjong- we will see who is the ultimate player soon enough!" Yuuki exclaimed with a grin. "Hey Nodo-chan where are ours?"

Nodoka winked at her, "you'll have to buy drinks yourselves this time."

"Aww no fair you bought Saki-chan one! When are you going to give up on your boob monopoly, anyway?" _How on earth are those two things related?_ "You should share some with us! Right, Saki-chan?" _Oh my god I wish Yuuki would stop making those jokes, in front of Saki-san too this time…_

"Err… erm… I don't know…" Saki was absolutely scarlet and was desperately looking downwards. _Why is she so embarrassed? The joke was at my expense wasn't it?_

"Are you okay Saki-san?" Nodoka asked her, concerned.

"Yeah… I just really need the toilet. Please excuse me." She was up and away before Nodoka had a chance to stop her.

"What's up with Saki-chan?" Yuuki asked as nonchalantly as ever.

"You and your jokes. You made her feel uncomfortable." Nodoka honestly didn't know if that was the case at all, however. _Maybe she just has some kind of complex about her size? _Nodoka thought that would be strange, if true. Her sister and Oohoshi Awai were both similarly sized, and Yuuki and Maho's were both non-existent in comparison. Nodoka was not without other more vulgar opinions against the idea that Saki was insecure about her breasts either. Opinions about how cute they were._ Opinions that shouldn't be mentioned or even thought about._

"Nah I'm sure she just needed the toilet really badly like she said" Yuuki said; as if she had done nothing that could possibly upset anyone.

Nodoka turned to Maho, desperate to change the subject. "Maho, you'll never guess who Oohoshi Awai is a fan of on our team."

"Erm…the president?"

"Nope."

"Not Yuu-chan!"

"Hey! What's with the 'not'?" Yuuki interrupted.

"Not Yuuki" Nodoka agreed.

"Nodo-chan..?"

"Nope."

"Someya-senpai?" _This girl is hopeless. She really went through the entire team before thinking of herself._

"Nope."

"No way! Ma-chan?!" Yuuki blurted out, apparently incredulous as well. Nodoka just smiled and sipped her drink.

"No way… are you just trying to tease me?" Maho insisted, "She's way too scary."

Nodoka smiled, "Ask Saki-san when she gets back if you don't believe me. She loved your dealer sanbaiman in the final of the team tournament."

"Oh my god… What am I going to do? I didn't realise I had fans… I can't let them down now!" she cried happily and the two of them were soon arguing about which of them commanded the greater fandom. Nodoka just sighed and drank her iced tea whilst she listened to the pair's nonsensical argument. "By the way Nodo-chan, hasn't Saki-chan been gone for a while?" Maho asked her after they settled down a bit.

_She's right._ "She has hasn't she? I better go look for her." _She must be lost again, and all thanks to Yuuki's stupid joke._ Nodoka stopped and realised where they were; Nodoka had specifically picked this spot because it was within sight of the bath exit. The bath they had just used. _She went in the opposite direction of the bath when she left. Why didn't I notice that? I should have known this would happen, I have no excuses for letting her get lost like this..._

Akado Harue and her team were on their way back to their hotel rooms. Fortunately she had managed to book adjacent rooms, so staying in touch with the other girls was never a problem. Her girls, representing Achiga and Nara were heavy underdogs in the qualifiers and she was so proud of them for defeating Bansei. Their team had fortunately been drawn on the same side of Haramura Nodoka's own team, who was actually originally their motivation for beginning the club in the first place. _We will have to get to the semi-final now if the girls' dream is to be realised, but I don't think the girl even knows we are here._

At first she didn't think their dream would ever be realised. Not because of themselves, she knew her girls had a chance against Bansei, but she had watched the nationals last year. The girl Amae Koromo was a part of the team representing Nagano, and she had been fearsome to say the least. Harue was not even sure she would have been able to beat that monster, and as expected the girl destroyed Shizu and the rest of her girls when she managed to set up a practise game with them.

To Harue's surprise Nodoka actually was the one who defeated the girl, which meant that Harue had underestimated her. Nodoka was always a very smart and logically minded girl, even all those years ago, but she never gave her the impression that she had the type of edge that could possibly enable her to compete with monsters like Amae Koromo.

They were on the ground floor, on the way to the elevator when an all-too-familiar pressure surrounded and paralyzed her. She tried her best to brace herself against it but she was too late, the pressure was awful and, better yet, it was getting worse. The person responsible was clearly in sight, walking towards them along the same corridor as they themselves were. It wasn't a question of whether it was or whether it wasn't this person, Harue somehow just knew that it was. _Wow this is terrible… It's as though I'm playing against her all over again. Maybe I'm not ready to play in the pro leagues, after all._

Kuro clearly felt it as well; the girl was absolutely petrified and was visibly shaking and even Shizuno jolted upright as the monster passed near them, which was an absolutely horrendous moment for Harue herself who could not stop trembling. Her hands were balled up into fists and she was unable to even speak, such was the pressure generated by this demon. Yuu was squeaking in almost a whisper, "that uniform… I think it's… Shiraitodai…"

Shizuno spoke up, "So that's… Miyanaga Teru…?"

Harue had seen Miyanaga Teru in action, and the girl that walked past them was not her. Her hair was wrong and she was too short, but she did have a notable resemblance to the champion.

"No..." she croaked once she was able, "That's her sister… The opponent you soon will have to defeat, Shizu. Her name is Saki. Miyanaga Saki."


	17. Chapter 17 - Awkwardness

**Chapter 17 - Awkwardness**

* * *

Saki was lost and worse yet, she knew she was lost. She actually preferred it when she was walking around half in a daze, unaware of how lost she was. Her ventures often lasted longer in that case but she would usually be happily surprised when someone she knew spotted her. When she knew she was lost the tears would always come. _Where am I…? How do I get back? This way maybe? _More unfamiliar ground, much like the direction she came from.

She walked into an area that looked suspiciously like a deserted dead end. It in fact was a deserted dead end with nothing but a fire escape. _That should lead outside… I should be able to find my way to the entrance if it does… I hope Nodoka-chan finds me soon...No no no… I shouldn't think like that… It's no good- I shouldn't burden her like that. _

The moment she pressed down the handle on the fire exit an alarm rang out, scaring Saki half to death. _This is so embarrassing._ She turned and fled up a flight of stairs she passed a few moments ago in her fear of being confronted by someone. _Now there's no chance I will be found… That place we were sitting at definitely wasn't on this floor._

Not for the first time, she brought her arm up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. _Why do I always have to get lost like this?_ She walked onwards, walking past rooms that appeared to be normal hotel rooms all of which seemed to be occupied. _I shouldn't have run away like that. I wouldn't have gotten lost if I asked Nodoka-chan to come with me. Oh right… I remember why I ran now. I guess there's no helping it. I wonder if she figured out why… I really hope not. She might never speak to me again. _

She walked on until she came to a crossroads and went left, doing her best to ignore the stares she was getting from the two people she passed on her way. They seemed to be members of some school, probably here for the mahjong tournament. _Onee-san will be cross if some magazine has a story about how I was walking around lost._ It was too much to hope for that they didn't recognise her. Everyone seemed to recognise her at these events, and Saki hated the lack of privacy she was allowed because of it. It was causing trouble for Nodoka as well now.

She soon came to another dead end, with nothing but rooms on either side of the corridor._ I need to go back to those stairs, I bet that alarm has gone off by now. _She backtracked to the cross-roads that she was at just moments ago, but was unable to remember which way she had come from. Fortunately Saki couldn't hear anybody around so she took her time looking down direction. A sign for an elevator was clearly visible down one isle. _I'll just take this down one floor and hope I recognise something when the door opens._ She made to walk in that direction when her right foot unwittingly clipped her left, sending her sprawling awkwardly onto the floor. _Owww._ _My ankle really hurts. _

She straightened out her sleeves and wiped at her eyes again. M_aybe it would be better to wait for Nodoka-chan to find me._ She shook her head instinctively at the idea. _How could she possibly expect me to be on the second floor? I don't even know why she puts up with me. _She made her way to her feet, gingerly testing her injured left ankle. _I'm not sure I can even walk on it properly now…_ She straightened herself out and continued slowly towards the Elevator and pressed the down arrow. She knelt down and rubbed at her ankle. _It can support my weight, so I don't think it's serious. At least I hope not._

The elevator chose that moment to open, but it was absolutely packed with strangers. "Erm err I'll… Just wait for the next one… Sorry." She walked a few paces to the side so she was out of view whilst the door closed. _This is a nightmare. I shouldn't have tried to go through that fire exit… _Once she could be certain the elevator had moved on, she pressed the down arrow again. The next one had quite a few people in it as well, but there was enough space for Saki to get in and move to the back. "Erm… ground floor…?" _The button has already been pressed…_ No one bothered responding to her and she spent the entirety of the lift duration feeling awkward standing in the corner.

It was a short trip at least, and soon the doors were opening out onto the ground floor. Saki looked around. It was clearly the main hall, and the place was buzzing with people. _I don't recognise it at all… When I am with Nodoka-chan I don't pay any attention to my surroundings…_

Nodoka was searching the main lobby for the 4th time when she finally spotted the brown haired girl leaving the elevator. _Why on earth was she on the elevator…?_ _Surely she should have realized she shouldn't go upstairs… _"Saki-san!" she called, happy at least that she had found her.

"Nodoka-chan! You found me." She was smiling so cutely that Nodoka felt her frustration melting away.

"Yes" she said smiling, "You got lost again, Saki-san."

The girl nodded shyly, "Yeah… I'm sorry Nodoka-chan… I really cause you a lot of trouble, don't I?"

"It's fine Saki-san, at least you aren't lost anymore." Nodoka smiled, "Why did you leave the first floor?" she asked.

Saki blushed shyly and looked down, "I'm sorry… I was just scared and ran up some stairs when I accidentally triggered a fire alarm…"

"You triggered a fire alarm?"

She scratched her head with an embarrassed laugh, "Um, yeah. I wanted to go outside so I could find my way back to the main entrance." Nodoka decided that it was probably fortunate she didn't go that way. _Saki being lost upstairs is one thing, but being lost outside could have been much worse._

"You should keep your mobile phone with you, Saki-san. Then you can just call me when you get lost."

"Erm yeah… I just don't use it now… since I can talk to you in person anyway…"

That brought a smile to Nodoka's face. "Saki-san…" _Saki-san really is stupidly honest. She must be really worried about something if she can't tell me about it when she can say lines like that. _"Don't worry about it Saki-san, but I think you had a problem before right? You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to… and you are probably too honest for your own good anyway." She paused and hoped she wasn't prying too much, but ended up continuing anyway, "But Saki-san, I really want you to feel comfortable with me, so if the problem is preventing that I want you to tell me, so we can fix it together."

When Saki nodded, looking down at her feet surprisingly red-faced, Nodoka took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "Don't worry about it for now okay? Let's go back to the room. I bet you are feeling tired after that ordeal."

"Okay Nodoka-chan. Thank you… Thank you for always taking care of me."

"No problem at all." When Nodoka turned to walk back to the elevator, she met a solid resistance from Saki. She turned around, "Are you okay, Saki-san?" she asked, but it was all too obvious what was wrong with her.

"Yes I'm fine. Don't worry about me Nodoka-chan."

"Now Saki-san, don't pretend to be okay when you are not" Nodoka scolded, a little more harshly than she intended. _I really don't like it when she lies to me._

"Sorry… I tripped before and hurt my ankle…"

"You silly girl, come here." She moved around to Saki's left and placed the girl's arm around her own neck, "Is this okay..?" she asked gingerly, but when she looked up at Saki's face the sheer redness of it stopped her in her tracks. "Saki-san I'm sorry, am I hurting you?"

"No… you are not hurting me… Nodo… Nodoka-chan I'm sorry…"

"What's the matter Saki-san?" The tears were obviously there in her eyes. "Why are you crying? Please tell me the problem. I am going to begin crying too soon and that would just be ridiculous- I don't even understand why I would be crying!"

She wasn't upset enough not to laugh a little at least, "Nodoka-chan… I need to tell you, don't I?" Nodoka just nodded slightly. "Okay… but we have to go somewhere… where no one will hear…"

"It's not like you to get embarrassed by what strangers think, Saki-san." Nodoka told her. It was true that the girl was shy in general, but it was usually because she didn't want the attention in the first place, so the request confused Nodoka.

"It's not that… I just want to be alone… if you leave afterwards…"

Nodoka jolted at those words. _Leave? What? Is it really that bad?_ "Saki-san, I assure you that will not happen. Don't you understand what you mean to me? Please trust me a little more, okay?" Nodoka was slightly hurt that Saki could even think that. _She always has been insecure about the silliest things, like how she gets lost all the time._ When Saki didn't respond, she relented, "Okay Saki-san, shall we go and try and find a quiet area outside? There probably won't be any areas as nice as the one at the training camp though."

It took a good ten minutes before she managed to find an area that Saki was comfortable with talking about whatever she thought she had done. It was a small bench in a quiet area a short walking distance from the hotel, with tall lampposts dotted around the area, providing a dim lighting.

Nodoka held the girl's hands and sat down with her on the bench. "Don't force yourself, okay Saki-san? And don't forget that I won't leave you, no matter what it is you think you have done." Nodoka was trying her hardest to reassure the girl, but the fear in her voice left the words sounding hollow.

"Okay… well… It's just that…" she was sat awkwardly facing away from Nodoka who was sat on the other side of the bench watching the girl. Nodoka still held onto the girl's hand, but the hand was somehow less secure than usual. It was as though Saki was just letting her hand be held this time, but Nodoka didn't mind too much. She would have preferred Saki to be actively holding her hand in the same way she always did, but she was clearly struggling with something which meant Nodoka needed to be there for her now.

After the slight pause she continued, but did not look at Nodoka. "It's just that… I'm the worst… I really can't concentrate anymore… I mean… I have always… thought it… but now I always think it… It's always at the front… of my mind… and I can't help it any…"

"Saki-san..." Nodoka interrupted, "Please try to be clearer. I don't understand what you are trying to say."

"Before… in the bath… I almost fainted when you walked up to me… n-nake… naked… And when… and when… and when your… your..." Nodoka sat there quietly as she stuttered, "Just now... your… when your… b-breasts… rubbed against me… N-Nodoka-chan… was just trying to help me… but I couldn't think… about a-anything else… I-It… was the same this… this morning… I'm so sorry… I really am the worst…" _Is she saying what I think she's saying? She's having the exact same problem I am! _Saki was still upset, in tears and looking downwards, clearly still scared that Nodoka was going to leave her.

"Saki-san… I can't believe you thought I would leave you because of something like that… I thought maybe it was something really bad… I was really scared Saki-san… I mean I was so scared when you said you thought I'd leave you… I couldn't even think of anything you could have even hypothetically done… for that. You really don't understand my feelings for you Saki-san." Nodoka paused and looked into the girl's eyes that were finally looking at her, although she still seemed worried. Nodoka sighed inwardly. _I'm going to have to tell her as well… to make her feel comfortable again…_

She started, feeling the blush on her face immediately. "I… I have thought you were beautiful like that for… so long… E-Every time we get changed, every single time, I have to… I have to force myself not to look… at you... Even back at the training camp… and I was so scared you would want me to clean your back and hair in the bath today… I didn't know what I was going to do if you asked me that… If anything… If anything it makes me happy that you feel like that as well…" Nodoka squeezed the girl's hand, relieved to be done with the awkward confession. "Don't worry about a thing Saki-san. We are exactly the same, okay?"

Saki nodded happily at that. _There's the smile again. There's the smile that just belongs on her face._ "Okay Nodoka-chan. I'm sorry for making such a… hassle out of it…"

"It's absolutely fine. If it wasn't you it would have been me and I'm not sure I would have had the courage to tell you… You really are so brave and wonderfully honest Saki-san. Why do you put up with me?" To Nodoka's astonishment Saki's eyes clearly widened at that. "Saki-san… what… what did I say?"

"It's nothing… It's just that you… kind of proved yourself right. We are the same Nodoka-chan." she happily announced. Nodoka didn't quite understand, but Saki was happy, and therefore so was she.

Nodoka just shrugged at her and smiled, "Shall we head back to the hotel then?"

Nodoka was enjoying walking hand-in-hand with Saki when the girl surprised her with a question, "It's strange… for girls… to like each other isn't it…? I mean… for girls to like other girls…"

"I guess that's a fair thing to say… although… it's probably less strange than it used to be." Nodoka paused and looked at Saki before she began again. "Did you always know that you did… that you liked girls?" Nodoka asked her, genuinely curious.

Saki had eyes only for the floor as she responded, "I… I never really thought about it… I don't know really… I sometimes noticed how pretty other girls were when I saw them… but I only really knew… after I met you…"

Nodoka's eyes widened. "A-are you sure… you are not just saying that…? I… I really doubt… it…"she said, blushing at the idea of it.

Saki shook her head. "That's wrong, Nodoka-chan… I never thought about that kind of thing at all, but when I saw you for the first time in that garden… when you walked past me… I just couldn't stop thinking about how pretty you were. I thought about it during our match too… how pretty you were… I think that… you were my first crush… No… you definitely were… "

They were still slowly making their way back towards the hotel with Saki's focus still firmly on the ground in front of her. Saki started again after a few moments, "When you… When you were upset at the camp… because of that thing…" Saki didn't need to explain which thing she meant, "Before then… Before then I already knew I liked you like that for a long time. I was happy when I realised you were feeling the same."

Saki was still blushing and looking at the floor as they walked, and they were at near a snail's pace they were moving so slowly. Nodoka felt her heart twinge in pain as she realised what the girl was saying. _She was feeling like I was that day… for 'a long time'? And I didn't notice it… It must have been so painful for her…_

"You should have told me…" Nodoka said, "I think… I think I felt like that for a long time about you as well… I just didn't realise it… until that day. I always… I always thought about how cute you were… and things like that…" Nodoka took her hand, stopping the girl from moving. "I would have loved… to hear that you liked me in that way Saki-san… I really wish… you wouldn't try to bear your feelings all alone like that…"

Saki nodded slightly. "Hmm… I guess so but… I thought it was weird… and I liked being your friend even without the… other stuff…"

"Saki-san… You really are so wonderful." _I always feel like this around her… Like I'm a fun person to be around… It really feels so nice…_

Saki didn't respond to her compliment, not unless you counted her pronounced blush at least, and the blush seemed to be contagious in any case. They continued on, but after a few moments of silence Saki spoke up again. "What about Nodoka-chan…? Did Nodoka-chan always know?"

Nodoka shook her head. "Not always… I just guessed it… because… I've never really liked any boys… but I've always liked the idea of being another girl's wife…"

"Wife?"

Nodoka immediately blushed and looked away herself when she realised what she had said, "Please forget I said that!"

Saki just shook her head, "Being… m-married to Nodoka-chan… would make anyone really happy. I know… I know I would be…"

Nodoka gasped and stopped moving. "I… I really don't know how you can say things like that out loud Saki-san." She said.

"I can't… not normally. I can only speak to Nodoka-chan like this."

Nodoka hesitated. "Me too…" she said, embarrassed_. I only ever have serious conversations with her and very occasionally Father and president, and I don't enjoy those conversations nearly as much, especially the ones with Father. _"I really enjoy talking seriously with you like this Saki-san, it's so easy to be honest and it feels… it feels like it doesn't matter if… I say something wrong or stupid or naïve or anything… I feel really… really safe and happy whenever I'm with you."

"Nodoka-chan... would you….?"

"Saki-san?" Saki stopped moving and her gaze was cast firmly downwards. "Don't worry Saki-san, after our previous conversation you can surely ask me anything." She said half-heartedly. She was hoping the joke would set the girl at ease, but she was still awkward when she continued.

"N-Nodoka-chan… please don't answer if it's… too personal… or something…. But I was wondering… if your dad can't move… would you be interested in living with… sharing a room with me? I mean if you don't mind Shiraitodai… I'm sorry- I'm being selfish."

_Ah, this again. Nodoka stopped and thought for a moment._ "No, it's fine." She managed after a moment's hesitation, "I was thinking earlier… I think that I probably owe you a real answer to what your sister asked at dinner..." Nodoka took Saki's hand in both of her own and, doing her best to keep eye contact with the girl as she spoke. "I really would love sharing a room with you... and living with you. I really would, probably even too much… and even though it would be a risk and an irrational move on my part, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Except… I'm really scared… I'm really… just scared to be honest. I'm scared of living in a big city, scared of moving to a new school, scared of leaving Yuuki and Maho and everyone else behind but most of all I'm scared that if we were to live together… you might get bored of me… or we might break apart for some stupid reason…

But then I think back to that time during the year when I couldn't see you… I hated it… I spent just four days with you in the capital yet I thought about you all of the time. I was so obsessed that I would find myself absolutely livid every time someone called you that ridiculous and contemptuous nickname on television or even in real life; 'national class monster' and to be honest… I still do… No matter how many times I hear it I still get unreasonably angry.

And then I… I…" She stopped talking and looked down. "It's… hard to say these things… out loud… but I almost broke down crying when you called me up for the first time at the qualifiers… That's not true… I really did cry… My whole team stared at me like I was crazy… I was embarrassed but… I was so happy to hear your voice after all that time. In hindsight I really don't know how I didn't realise that I liked you in a… in a romantic way… "

Nodoka , unable to keep up eye contact any longer looked down at the ground, "It was even worse in the last month… after the training camp… I wanted to see you and be with you so much that it was hard to sleep, hard to think and hard to do anything productive at all. I was so happy when you called… I don't know what I would have done without our games on the net… This is the truth Saki-san. It's a complete mess and I don't know what I should do, or even what I can do…"

Nodoka spent several more moments staring down at the ground when she finished, worried how the girl had taken her creepy monologue, but once she looked up her heart nearly stopped. The tears were clearly there in Saki's eyes, and her mouth was shaped into such a fantastic smile. "Saki-san…?" she said, staring.

"You… really love me don't you Nodoka-chan?" she said, apparently dumbfounded. "You really do love me." she was wiping her eyes with her sleeves as she said it.

Nodoka felt her face flush and she looked away. "I… I am honestly surprised that you didn't know frankly" she said, trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal that she had forgotten. Nodoka sighed. "Don't you remember the training camp? I meant what I said Saki-san. I really do love you. I even said it… in front of your sister. That was hard…"

"I really love you too, you know? I can't believe how silly you are… I could never get bored of you, Nodoka-chan. How can I make you… understand? We both love… we both love mahjong and books right?"

Nodoka just nodded with a simple "yes." _I have no idea where she's going with this._

"Yet we get along so well… and haven't ever really talked about either. Not yet at least… Just think about it… we've only talked about books once… and that was today… and it was… so nice… and it only lasted a small while." She looked down in embarrassment, and Nodoka was feeling it as well just thinking about that 'talk.' Saki was quiet for a moment before continuing, "And we have only played a single game of mahjong… in real life at least… and it was one of the most fun games of mahjong I've played… and it was because it was against you, Nodoka-chan."

"Are you sure... that wasn't just the joy of winning? It was a final after all…"

Saki didn't hesitate, "That's wrong; it was because it was against you. I was… having so much fun even when I was losing... For the first time… I really wanted to win…" Nodoka found herself blushing and wishing she hadn't said something so stupid. _She's won before you idiot!_ Saki smiled at her for a moment before she continued. "It would be like a dream for me Nodoka-chan. We would wake up together every day, walk to class together, sit next to each other, eat lunch together, go to the mahjong club and play together every day! Don't you think it would be wonderful? I could even show Nodoka-chan around the school!"

"Saki-san I agree it sounds wonderful… but what about your Mother? Would she approve of us sleeping together or of me sharing a room with you at all for that matter? We would probably not even end up in the same class at school, and there's no guarantee I would get into your mahjong team. It isn't like Kiyosumi there is it? If you or even your sister started losing you could be replaced by one of those backup Shiraitodai members I've seen wandering around, right?"

Saki shook her head, "Don't be so modest Nodoka-chan, you would get into any team. You are… Kiyosumi's ace Nodoka-chan… I know you don't think of yourself like that… but every team here would want you…"

"Kiyosumi's… ace…? I really don't think… that's possible… The president is… if anyone…"

"I bet even Takei-san thinks the same, Nodoka-chan." The compliment was putting Nodoka on the back foot, she could barely bring herself to respond and it was Saki who continued, "But… I don't think you understand how… how the mahjong team for Shiraitodai is picked… I really don't like it… but at least we would be together from the start."

"Er… how does it work? It can't be that bad… considering that you have won for two years straight in both the inter-middle team tournament and the inter-high tournament…"

Saki shook her head, "I guess it works… but… We had to beat teams from our own school… to play here…"

"Sorry?" Nodoka was confused. _What can that even mean? _"I don't understand what you mean."

"What we do is… first the players decide their own teams… Then our school has a Shiraitodai-only team tournament to decide which team is the strongest… The team who wins gets picked to represent the school… I am only in the main one because of onee-chan."

"But… but… what does your coach do then..? If she's not there to pick the team I mean."

"She… she just helps the substitutes practise mostly… I haven't… I haven't even talked to her a single time this trip so far…"

"But that's so illogical… what if… what if there are strong individuals on a team that loses…? That makes… that makes no sense."

"I know… I really hate it too… but… I think you would have fun… Awai-chan would definitely join us, and hopefully even Takami-senpai and Seiko-senpai too, and we would play together in the Shiraitodai team tournament, and then the prefectural qualifiers and the other team tournaments Shiraitodai gets to attend as well! Don't you think it would be great, Nodoka-chan?"

Saki was smiling so brightly that Nodoka was at a loss for words. _I don't have an answer for her._

Saki waited a few moments before continuing, "Nodoka-chan. You said you were surprised that I didn't know that you loved me… but we are the same, remember? You wouldn't be thinking things like me getting bored of you if you knew how depressed I was before I met you. I think you know this… but my Dad died a bit more than a year before we met… more than two years ago now… Onee-chan really did her best for me after that, trying to cheer me up all the time even though she was really hurting, looking after me in ways I didn't even know about.

Onee-chan… about a month after the accident, she took me to a local mahjong tournament to try and take my mind off of it… it was just a small tournament… it was one of those ones for both pros and amateurs and they invited us… I still liked mahjong back then… but at that tournament they had special coverage… they had the normal live coverage but they also had post-match highlights that they played in breaks for the players to see… I didn't really understand it but… I got to watch myself play for the first time. I hadn't watched myself before that because Onee-chan never let me… I never understood why she did that until I watched myself at that tournament…

At first I was so excited that I forgot for the first time for long enough to have a nice time… but then it started. The girls… I didn't notice when I was playing… but they were terrified of me… even the adult player... You should have seen it… You wouldn't even believe it… the commentators called me a monster… and not just once… They used that word more than they used my name… I even counted it… and from the looks on those girl's faces I thought… I- I thought it must be true. From then on every time I played I noticed it. I lost in the next match at that tournament; I couldn't focus on anything but the play style I played as a child after that for a long time."

Saki took a moment to take a breath then, but continued again without any prompting, although Nodoka would have been incapable of doing such a thing regardless. "After that I realised how hard my sister had worked to protect me from that kind of thing… She would always make me leave my matches as early as I could… I was so stupid that I thought she was just being bossy… but she just didn't want me to spend any time with my opponents after matches… She did lots of little things like that… things I didn't notice until after that day... "

Nodoka's eyes were filled to the breaking point with tears. It was not just tears either, her mouth quivered and her legs were shaking, somehow feeling unstable. One thing was certain; Nodoka was about to break down crying and she was struggling to stop herself. She wiped her eyes frantically, desperately not wanting to interrupt the girl's heartfelt talk, but she realised nonetheless that she had failed. "Nodoka-chan… What's wrong?" Saki asked.

"It's just… you lost your Father… then you immediately lost mahjong as well… and in that way… It's just too sad… It's just too awful… No one should have to go through that… Especially…. Especially not you…" Nodoka struggled to keep talking after that, but Saki brought her own hand up to Nodoka's face to wipe her tears away.

Once she was finished, she then lifted Nodoka's hand up in both of hers so that the hands lay directly between them and smiled her smile for her before she began speaking again. "It was you, Nodoka-chan! You are the one who stopped that pain… I… I would love you for the rest of my life just because of that… but it isn't just that. I love… Nodoka-chan… I love everything… I love everything about you… You are so… so beautiful… The way you talk… so politely and properly… and how well-mannered you are, even when you are cross… or upset…

You are so caring… so strong… so patient and understanding… so proud and confident… and I love the way you look at me… even now with your eyes sad and full of tears… I love that way you are looking at me… It's a precious thing to me." She said the last thing with a smile, and Nodoka couldn't help but blush through her tears, but she forced herself to keep her attention on the girl's eyes. She deserved that much. _I will look at you forever, Saki-san._

"I even figured out how to use the television recorder so I could watch all of your interviews… I was too embarrassed to ask onee-chan to do it… I only know how to use the television recorder, my phone and the computer because I missed you and wanted to somehow… talk with you or see you or anything… Before I met you all I ever did was… read and play mahjong, and I hated mahjong. Books and something I hated, that's it. Haven't you noticed that even onee-chan is trying to get you to move… that's how much happier I am when I'm with you…

It's selfish of me- I know that but I can't help it. After listening to onee-chan talking to you about moving I thought about it a lot and I realised I want it. I want it so much. I want you nearer me and I want you to be happy. You are so important to me."

"I love you so much Saki-san," Nodoka told her honestly, failing in the battle against her tears, but they were no longer tears of sadness. _I will never tire of hearing such wonderful words coming out of her mouth._ She took the girl into a hug and just hugged the girl as tightly as she could. Nodoka realised what she needed to do now. She needed to tell the girl absolutely everything, no matter how embarrassing it was.

"I need… I need to tell you the truth Saki-san. The whole truth" she said.

Saki looked at her, confused. "Huh? Nodoka-chan?"

"I… I… My Father… He wants me out… out of Kiyosumi." It was surprisingly hard to talk about it, even to Saki but she forced herself onwards. She had to tell Saki. She knew that now, "He was so angry that I picked that school… I… I…"

"Nodoka-chan? You don't have to force yourself. Please don't cry Nodoka-chan, you don't need to tell me."

"Oh… I didn't mean to cry… I'm sorry… It's just… I…" Nodoka wiped the tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand, "I…" and then the tears destroyed the remaining resistance she had left. "Oh…" she said stupidly as the tears fell down her cheeks.

Saki took her into her arms again then, "Shhh Nodoka-chan… you are shaking… You don't have to tell me…"

"It's just… It's just that… I always find it… so hard… so hard to make friends… Yuuki… Maho… It took so long… I was so lonely…" Nodoka let out a sob then, surprised at her own grief. Saki was still hugging her head and stroking her hair, so gently and soothingly. _I didn't realise I was so worried about this…_ "I… I tried… back when… we were in Tokyo…"

"Nodoka-chan? I don't understand, I'm sorry."

"I tried…. I tried to move to Tokyo… Even though we'd spent not even four days together at that point…"

"Really, Nodoka-chan?"

"Yes… I was worried… but I was having such a good time that I was selfish enough to ask him… but my father wouldn't even listen… It's true… It's true that I didn't approach the subject very well… but I'm just so scared… I'll have to leave Yuuki and Maho… I'll have to leave them… and I'm not sure… I'm not sure Father will let me go to Shiraitodai… I don't know what to do… I'm going to be alone again…"

"I'm sorry Nodoka-chan… we shouldn't have brought it up… we shouldn't have pressured you…"

"No that's not true…" She wiped away the tears, feeling slightly calmer. _It is so much easier to face my tears now than when I have to face them alone… How will I live without her?_ Nodoka looked at the girl and addressed her with honesty. "I was really happy. I was really happy about the offer, even when it was just your sister last year… but even more so now… It makes me really happy that there's even a chance to move to Shiraitodai… and be welcomed by friends… and you… especially you. So you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh… I'm really glad, Nodoka-chan."

"Saki-san…" Nodoka looked downwards, embarrassed, "My Fa-… My Father…. This is so hard…"

"It's okay… You don't have to push yourself like this Nodoka-chan. You are working too hard."

Nodoka shook her head, "Just… Just promise not to laugh…"

"I wouldn't… I promise I won't."

"My father… said he might let me stay at Kiyosumi… if I win… the n-nationals… So… if you beat me… if you beat me I will have to leave Kiyosumi anyway, and then I will have no choice but to do everything in my power to convince him to let me apply to Shiraitodai. That would… that would be at least a relief… This not knowing is so hard… I don't know what to do… what will happen… what my Father will allow… I don't know anything…"

"Oh…" Somehow Saki looked sad for a moment, but soon looked back up and seemed to be her normal self, "Okay Nodoka-chan. I just have to beat you in the team tournament and the individuals then" she said, too casually for Nodoka's liking.

"I won't allow that to happen" she told the girl simply.

"Of course!" she said with a smile, "Shall we keep going, Nodoka-chan?"

"Okay."

They walked hand in hand slowly along the path, gently listening to the sounds of the night. "Saki-san," her voice sounded more shaken than she intended, but she realised just how eerie the night was, "It's really creepy out here… Can we walk a bit faster?"

"Okay Nodoka-chan." _It's so weird how I forget to be scared of these things when I am holding this girl's hand… _"Ouch, ouch stop please." _I forgot about her foot._ Nodoka took the girls arm and wrapped it around her neck, for the second time that evening. The poor girl instantly started turning red again, and Nodoka now knowing the reason was feeling embarrassed herself.

"It's fine Saki-san. Just concentrate on walking okay?"

"Yeah… I'll try… I'm sorry Nodoka-chan…"

"No don't apologize Saki-san, you've done nothing wrong." _Yuuki always makes jokes about these things, but they bring me and apparently now Saki-san nothing but grief. Saki's are much cuter with her size anyway; they really aren't worth the trouble._ She didn't catch herself that time.

When they entered the hotel's front entrance they were immediately greeted by a woman with a notepad and a pen_. Great, just what I need when Saki-san is injured. Ah well I suppose it had to happen sooner or later._

"How may we help you?" Nodoka asked the woman as pleasantly as she could muster.

"Oh I was just hoping for an interview with two of the most hyped up first year mahjong stars playing at the inter-high, if that's okay? We are all expecting big things from you two!"

"Can we make it quick? As you can see, Miyanaga-san is injured and needs to get back to her room." Saki looked up at Nodoka when she used her last name, the hurt obvious in her eyes. _Stop it Saki-san you are being too obvious. _

"So she will be sleeping in her own room tonight?" the reporter asked, shaking Nodoka out of her neutrality. _Unbelievable._

"I don't know what it is you are suggesting, but I will have to cut this interview short if these are the sorts of questions that will be asked" Nodoka told her, seething.

"Of course of course, I surely didn't mean anything by it. Are there any opponents in particular you are looking out for, either of you?"

Nodoka did not like the woman's casual response to her anger, but she did her best to stay calm, "No not currently, but I have not paid much attention to my potential opponents so I wouldn't know. I am confident however that my own brand of mahjong can defeat any opponent I face." Nodoka told her. Saki remained unnaturally quiet by her side.

"Does that include Miyanaga-san here?" the reporter asked her.

Nodoka didn't hesitate, "Yes. I will defeat her as well if we meet."

"Oh wow! Miyanaga-san, what do you say to that?"

Saki looked up, startled at the question. "Erm… I really want to play against her…" _What kind of answer is that Saki-san?_

The reporter just grinned at her and, smelling fresh blood, directed all her attention to Saki, "So you two became friends after you met in the inter-middle school final?"

"Um, yes" Saki said whilst fidgeting with the hems of her Shiraitodai uniform.

"Do any problems crop up from being such close friends yet being on different teams?"

"No, not really." _At least she's not getting anything so far. _

"Your two teams will meet in the semi-final, assuming you both make it that far, and I believe both of you play as the captain as well. Will you be able to play your strongest Mahjong knowing that you might knock Haramura-san here out?"

"Erm… Err…?"

Nodoka interrupted her stumbling herself, "Of course she will. We both intend to carry ourselves professionally and neither I nor Miyanaga-san will have any problem taking points off each other, if the time comes."

"Yes of course, I wouldn't suggest otherwise" she said with a grin. _This woman is dangerous._ "You two just came in from outdoors, yet the trains have stopped running at this time and there isn't much in the general vicinity of the area…I was wondering what…"

"I don't see how that is any concern of yours" Nodoka cut her off coldly. _We really do have to be more careful._ "If that is all, I will now take Miyanaga-san back up to her room."

"Oh yes absolutely. I wouldn't want to keep you when you are hurt. Thank you for your time, girls" she said, leaving them behind scribbling in her notebook as she walked.

Once she was out of hearing distance Nodoka turned to Saki, "Saki-san… You don't need to look so hurt when I call you by your last name… I was only doing it because of the reporter."

"I know. I'm sorry. You really are so good with them Nodoka-chan. I couldn't have said half of what you did."

"If you are worried about a question just say 'No comment' Saki-san, you are not obligated to tell them anything at all. I really am glad that woman didn't find you whilst you were lost though, she is mischievous to say the least."

"Yeah… I guess so" Saki replied, awkwardly.

"Come on let's go Saki-san, forget about that stuff okay?"

"Will we sleep… together today…?" she asked timidly whilst they were waiting for the elevator.

"I don't see why not Saki-san. I won't let some nosy reporter get in the way of our time together." Saki smiled so wonderfully at that that Nodoka found herself blushing. "Saki-san… I did it too you know? I recorded… all of your interviews…" she said, hoping to make the girl forget about being awkward around her. _Admitting that was harder than it should have been._

"Really? But I am so bad with them… onee-chan hates my interviews and tries to stop me from giving them when she can…"

Nodoka winked at her, "But you are just so cute when you give those interviews, not knowing what to say all the time, and the way you never look at the camera. I love watching you."

"Nodoka-chan! Don't say those things out loud! You are making me embarrassed..."

"Oh? Sorry Saki-san I just had no idea." she teased, squeezing her hand, at which the girl's blush intensified.

Saki fell asleep instantly when they finally crawled into bed together, but Nodoka remained awake, thinking about her future and what might lay there. Nodoka didn't know whether it would be better to have a choice or not._ Kiyosumi or Shiraitodai? _If given the choice, whichever she picked there would be pain. That much was obvious. The only way it could be worse is if her Father forced her to leave Kiyosumi and did not allow her to join Shiraitodai.

Nodoka decided thinking about those things was not a fun thing to do at all, so instead focused her attention on the thing she could rely on to salvage her mood. Some of her hair had fallen across her face, and Nodoka decided she liked seeing the cute face unobstructed so she removed the offending locks of hair with the tips of her fingers, careful not to wake the girl up. Her left arm was wrapped around the girl so she was restricted to only using her right.

She was not finished once the hair was gone however, and found herself playing with and stroking the girl's face. Her mind was soon blissfully and completely blank and it seemed like her hand had a mind of its own, just playfully caressing and stroking the smooth skin for what must have been at least five minutes. She carefully stroked the girl's hair and smiled at the pyjamas the girl was wearing; they were blue this time but the same cartoon bear from the pyjamas she wore at the camp was there again, except this time he appeared to be having a great time reading a book. The initials D.B. were written in English to the right of the bear. _I wonder what that means. Maybe he and Etopen are friends… _It wasn't long before Nodoka fell asleep to those thoughts.


	18. Chapter 18 - Occult Nonsense

**Chapter 18 - Occult Nonsense**

* * *

When Nodoka woke up the following morning she was relieved that Saki was still sleeping. _Don't you mean disappointed?_ Nodoka pushed the vulgar idea away, cursing herself for being so indecent. Today they would be preparing for their match tomorrow, and Saki would be around all day. Nodoka smiled to herself, it would be a good day today. Saki's head was in its customary position on Nodoka's chest, but she was used to this by now. After rolling the girl onto her back she cleaned her face and changed into her Kiyosumi uniform and got ready for breakfast.

Nodoka had learnt her lesson when Saki got lost at the training camp though; she would wait for Saki to wake up before leaving the room. She took a seat at the table that was situated in the bedroom with the book she had brought in preparation for this very problem. She smiled to herself as she opened it up to the first page. _Just as planned_. It was a book called "_Why I did what I did", _an auto-biography by a mahjong player by the name of Kuno Akiko who had been caught fixing matches. The book originally caught Nodoka's interest when a commentator mentioned it during a pro-match Nodoka was watching, and she had bought it specifically with this trip in mind.

She was mid-way through the introduction when Saki began moving about in her sleep, and Nodoka found herself distracted enough that she consciously decided to just sit there watching it rather than read. The girl moved her arms around in wide strokes and was murmuring incoherently again, but this time it seemed somehow more urgent than her usual mid-sleep ramblings. About 30 seconds passed before her face tightened into a frown, but she did not show any signs of slowing down her arm movements: they were almost frantically moving back and forth. Nodoka's heart leapt into her chest. _Is she trying to find me?_

She watched as the adorable girl eventually quieted down into a position on her back with her hands stretched outwards, but the tear trickling from the one eye that was visible to Nodoka was unmistakable. _Oh my god._ She watched in awe as the tear slowly made its way down the girl's face. It was a heart wrenching process, the time it took to slide down the side of her face seemed to stretch on and on. She became aware she was also on the verge of tears just from watching the performance, and stood up to make her way back to Saki.

She was soon in bed again with her book in hand. _This is so ridiculous, there's no way she was crying in her sleep just because I left for five minutes. Is my ego really that big? What am I doing? She must be worried about something, I should see if I can help her with whatever it is when she wakes up. _She thought about getting back up out of bed again but realised she was too comfortable to bother, despite the fact she was likely creasing her uniform.

She continued reading her book but took a guilty glance down at Saki who had made her way to her chest again, but the girl was looking slightly happier again. Nodoka could suffer the embarrassment in order to not disturb her, and it was not like she did not enjoy the closeness and warmth of the girl despite the dubious position of her head.

With her book in her right hand and Saki in her left she felt she didn't really have any reason to complain about anything. _You shouldn't worry me like this, Saki-san._ Nodoka nearly didn't catch herself that time, _why does she make me think such irrational and stupid things? It's not like she was deliberately crying in her sleep. I've been dense again; she's just upset about something._ As she read she kept on stealing glances at the girl sleeping on her chest. _She really is so cute when she's sleeping… _

Just when she was nearing the end of the first chapter of her book she realised Maho and Yuuki were both awake, and were arguing in loud whispers about who woke up first. Nodoka instinctively let out a hush sound, "People are still sleeping!" she hissed at them. _Why did I do that? What if they notice… the position we are in…?_

"Oh Nodo-chan's awake" that was Maho. Nodoka thought about quickly moving the girl's head but decided that would probably be even worse if they caught her in the process. Instead she just continued reading her book as if nothing was amiss, hoping her blush was not too obvious.

Yuuki's face appeared behind her and she wasted no time in honing right in on the problem, "Oh ho! What's this? Saki-chan sure loves your boobs, doesn't she, Nodo-chan?" Unbelievably, Yuuki poked the poor girl's face as she said it.

"Yuuki! Stop that right now! She had a long day yesterday, leave her alone!"

Yuuki seemed unperturbed, putting her finger to her chin in apparently deep thought, "Hmm… I suppose Nodo-chan's breasts would make for good pillows…" as usual Maho was giggling at the ridiculous Yuuki, and also in keeping with the norm it only encouraged the girl on. "It's my turn to sleep on them tonight, right Nodo-chan?" she asked, causing Maho to giggle harder.

"It certainly is not!" Nodoka's blush was here to stay, she knew that now. She tried to get back to reading her book, but could not even process a single word with Yuuki teasing her like this.

"I'm the expert when it comes to Nodo-chan's boobs though; I even know the exact size and taste."

"Taste?!" Nodoka mentally chastised herself. _I'm supposed to be absorbed in the book, remember?_

"Yes, Nodo-chan's boobs and tacos, those are my specialties."

"Oh she's waking up!" Maho happily pointed out in-between her giggling.

"That's nothing to brag about!"

"Erm… what time… is it…?" Saki asked, still drowsy from sleep.

"It's still early Saki-san, go back to sleep."

"Okay… "

"Early? It's nearly 10 am Nodo-chan." Maho told her.

Saki pushed herself up upon hearing that, and realised where she had been lying. "Oh… I'm sorry Nodoka-chan…"

"It's fine Saki-san. Don't worry about it."

"I keep doing it…" _Huh? She keep's doing it? Does that mean… this isn't the first time…? Maybe when she woke up before me yesterday..?_ There was one time Saki realised what she was doing at the training camp the first time they slept together, but Nodoka didn't think that was enough for such a dejected tone of voice.

Yuuki was the first to respond to her, "Don't worry Saki-chan. We have already decided that Nodo-chan's boobs are perfect for sleeping on."

"We have not!" Nodoka said loudly. _It's lucky that the senpai are already out._

Saki was red with embarrassment, "Nodoka-chan… you should wake me up… If I'm doing something like that…"

"I told you Saki-san. You don't have to worry."

"Nodo-chan did you sleep in your school uniform?" Maho asked her.

"Erm… no…"

"Then why are you wearing it now?" _Why can't these girls ever read the atmosphere? How am I supposed to tell them that it was because Saki was crying in her sleep whilst I was already up, so in my ego I rushed back to bed to hold her in my arms?_

"I decided I wanted… to read my book in bed…" she tried.

Yuuki was grinning, "Oh-ho… I see! Interesting!"

"What is?" Nodoka asked her, confused.

"Oh, nothing. Let's go find some tacos anyway Ma-chan!"

_Thank god._ The two girls wasted no time in leaving the room, allowing Nodoka the presence of mind to get herself out of bed for the second time that day, but Saki-san wasn't moving.

"Nodoka-chan… this is… I don't want to… be a burden to you…"

"Saki-san..? Why on earth would you think you were a burden to me?"

"I keep doing it…"

"I told you not to worry about that, remember?" she told her, more angrily than she intended.

Saki was still staring down at her hands when she responded, "I know but… it must be really uncomfortable for you…"

Nodoka sighed; _this isn't the way it was supposed to go at all._ "Saki-san, please trust me a little more. It was not uncomfortable in the slightest, okay?" Saki looked up at that, her eyes wide. _This is so embarrassing. Why did she have to make me admit that?_ "Forget about that please. I have something more important to talk to you about."

Saki, happy for the change of subject nodded at her, "Is something wrong Nodoka-chan?"

"Yes… Well… I think so… but you would probably know better than me…"

"Huh?" she blurted out. Nodoka thought she sounded genuinely confused.

Nodoka sat down onto the futon, and too Saki's hand into her own before she began, "Whilst you were sleeping… you were crying. Is there something wrong? I want to know if you are unhappy, Saki-san."

"What? Really? I was crying?"

Nodoka nodded. "Yes, I was really worried."

"I can't think of anything like that… I'm happy Nodoka-chan. Really really happy!" she said with what Nodoka thought was real enthusiasm and her genuine smile. She thought she knew the smile was real because it made her blush just like it always did. _She certainly doesn't seem depressed, but I've never been good at reading that kind of thing. Maybe it's something to do with what she was saying yesterday? Her Father perhaps?_

"Are you sure? If there's a reason you are sad I want to help make things better for you."

"You already do that Nodoka-chan. Don't worry. I'm really fine. Thank you for worrying about me."

_Yesterday she pretended she was okay when she wasn't, but I could tell instantly that she was lying when she did that… _"It's absolutely no problem Saki-san, I'm happy to do it." She told the girl honestly, "You should get ready for breakfast, though."

"Oh yes I've just been sitting in bed since I woke up haven't I?" she asked with a slight laugh, scratching her head.

They shared a decent breakfast with Maho and Yuuki that morning and eventually Kyoutarou joined them as well. They were supposed to be back in the room by midday for the match preparation but Nodoka wasn't sure if Kyoutarou would be joining them or not. When she asked him he told her he wouldn't be there for the most part because he had a lot of shopping to do. _Poor guy, what on earth can president be making him do all the time?_ Even now he only had a coffee and had already spent time that day out running errands for the team.

"What are we going to be doing to prepare for our match Nodo-chan?" Maho asked her.

"I know as much as you do about that, Maho."

"What, really?"

"Yes. Really." _I really haven't being paying attention to anything since I got here… anything but this girl sitting next to me._

"Will we play against Saki-chan?" Yuuki asked, "There can't be better practise than that, right?"

"Yuuki, we can't play against Saki in unofficial matches remember?" she paused before continuing "Just recently you were told this at the camp, don't you ever pay attention? You didn't read the rules before the prefectural qualifiers either."

"Eh? But I am the strongest player as the vanguard! The rules are beneath powers such as I."

"You should take things more seriously" she scolded, "What will Saki-san think of such indiscipline? We should be setting a good example for our opponents."

"Er, don't worry about me…" Saki said, clearly nervous.

"Sorry Saki-san. I didn't mean to put you on the spot." Nodoka told her with a smile.

"It's right though!" Yuuki loudly announced, "We can't waste the great battle before its time has come! The great duel between the master Kataoka Yuuki and her apprentice Miyanaga Saki! That's a match that should be saved for the grand finale!"

Nodoka sighed, "Yuuki. You won't even face her at this tournament, remember? She's the captain and you are the vanguard, and you didn't make it to the individuals. And how exactly is she your apprentice?" Nodoka looked over at the girl when she didn't respond, unsurprised to find her munching on a taco and paying her no mind. "She really is unbelievable." She told Saki who laughed politely and went back to her food.

When Maho and Yuuki followed Kyoutarou out of the room Nodoka was surprised to find Saki almost finished with her food. "Wow you really ate fast today."

"Er… Yeah… I g-guess…" the girl stuttered. _She definitely seems slightly agitated._

"Is something wrong Saki-san?"

"No… I just wanted… this time…"

Nodoka felt the familiar twang of guilt as she realised Saki was struggling to tell her something again. "Yes?" she tried in her softest voice.

"This time I wanted to feed you… instead."

Nodoka looked away immediately, her face immediately beginning to feel hot. _Oh my god…_ _Is that why she was so quiet today? She wanted to finish her food first? Oh my god… Saki-san… We really can't do that..._

"Saki-san, you are just so adorable" she struggled, unable to look directly at the girl as she spoke, "but we need to be more careful, remember? There's that reporter who seems to know about us snooping around..." Noticing the hurt on the girl's face she continued, "I'm really sorry… but there are just too many people here."

"But… but…" She stammered with such a disappointed expression on her face that Nodoka felt her willpower flushing down the drain.

"It's already so hard to say no to you Saki-san… please don't make it harder… I know- how about later on we buy some takeout food and eat it together in our room? We can feed each other then."

"Really?" she asked, the smile returned to her face. _She really is so adorably childish about some things._

Nodoka nodded. "I enjoyed it too Saki-san and believe me, it's not just you who hates this; the way we have to pretend, the way we can't just do what we want… This kind of thing has absolutely nothing to do with our mahjong. It's ridiculous. I want to throttle that woman." Nodoka wiped her forehead with her sleeve. She had worked herself up more than she had intended when she first began.

"I know. I'm sorry for being so much trouble."

"Don't worry about that. It's not your fault." She was trying not to rush her food, but it was hard with the disappointed Saki there patiently waiting for her. She had an idea though, "Oh I know Saki-san! I usually make myself a bento for school… I could make us both one each if you don't mind… and we could do it with that… It would be healthier that way as well…"

"Oh that's such a good idea Nodoka-chan!" she said enthusiastically, "but you shouldn't do all of the work on your own. We should make one together or maybe make each other one… but mine would never be as good as yours…"

"You shouldn't be so self-deprecating. You don't even know how good my cooking is."

"You are good at everything though."

"That's simply not true Saki-san, but I like the idea of making one big bento together. How about we do that?"

"Yes okay, that would be fun." she smiled happily.

The Kiyosumi club practise started with videos of the opponents after the president spent five minutes talking privately to Maho. Nodoka spent the time cuddled up with Saki on a couch the president had somehow managed to acquire. Nodoka didn't even want to think about what she made poor Kyoutarou do. Yuuki and Maho were squeezed into the other side of the couch with Yuuki on the other side of Nodoka.

The video was of the finals of each of the three teams' qualification campaigns, and they all seemed to employ very logical play styles and whilst the overall level of each match impressed Nodoka, there were really no stand-out players, and she was confident Kiyosumi would get through given equal or greater luck in their favour. Yuuki voiced this opinion out loud partway through the second video and even the president didn't contradict her.

Hisa was happy with the way the session was going so far, but only the easy part was past. The hard part was still to come.

When the video was finished, Saki spoke up, "Kiyosumi will definitely win tomorrow with Nodoka-chan as the captain!"

_Excellent start._ She looked over at the princess, who was predictably blushing and looking downwards. "That's right." She grinned at the blushing girl, "But before we go on to the practise I'd like to first go over some of the other teams we might be up against in the next round."

"Don't you think that's a bit premature president?" Nodoka asked, as Hisa knew she would.

"Not at all. I don't think there's much to say about those teams we just watched, right Nodoka? They play a very standard style for the most part. We just need enough games today to make sure we are comfortable playing in real life again."

"I guess that makes sense president… but we have a rest day we can use to discuss those teams don't we?

"We will be using those days for more serious practise." When Nodoka seemed to accept that Hisa knew it was her time to shine. _It's now or never._ She looked at Saki, "Saki, I know you might hesitate to take part in this, but we could really use your help, and it would help Shiraitodai right? If we knocked one of those strong teams out of the competition for you."

Nodoka knew what she was up to immediately. "President I thought we'd been over this, you shouldn't pressure her like this."

Saki spoke then, and her eyes never left Nodoka as she did so, "No… it's okay. I can help here I think. I really want Kiyosumi to make it through… but I'm not sure… if Nodoka-chan will like what I say about those teams…" _Wow… This girl really is…_

Nodoka shook her head. "I don't understand what that means Saki-san, but you don't have to force yourself. We can win against those teams without you revealing anything. Hasn't your sister told you not to help us?"

"She did but… I really want to help." _The Miyanaga sisters never fail to surprise me. This is going to go so much easier than I expected._ Hisa had only brought it up now because she thought the conversation might affect Nodoka seriously enough to distract her, so Hisa wanted a few days to recover before the serious action began. If she had known how easy it would be she would indeed have saved it for when Nodoka herself suggested.

Hisa looked at Saki before she began, "The teams who will get through the other groups will be…?"

"My sister says Himematsu, and I agree. Almost for sure they will win… But I'm afraid the other group is all unknowns for us…"

"No problem at all. Could you tell me about Himematsu's strongest players, and what positions you think they will play in?"

"Their ace usually plays in your position Takei-san… her name is Atago Hiroe. She is really strong, but I have only watched her play once so I don't know what she does really… She talks a lot during her games…"

"Oh dear… Anything else you can tell us?"

"Their captain… Suehara Kyouko, you will like her Nodoka-chan. She is really fast and likes to go for low value hands when she can… She really calls a lot too. Onee-chan thinks she's probably the brains of the team because she's so smart. Nodoka-chan is definitely faster than her though, but she is scary… in other ways." Hisa didn't need to ask the girl what other ways she meant and nodded at the girl to indicate she understood, who then continued on,

"They have one more player I know enough about to help you… Onee-chan played against her so I know what she does…" Hisa raised her eyebrows at that. _What on earth does that mean? _"She's normal… but against good players… she erm…" the girl stopped and looked at Nodoka anxiously. _Oh dear. I don't know if I can get her out of this._

"Don't worry Saki-san. I won't judge you for anything you say, okay?" she told her, surprisingly calmly.

Saki just nodded at her and continued tentatively on, "She is normal… and I think Yuuki-chan is stronger most of the time… but sometimes she gets amazing… she scores hands with lots and lots of high number values… like 7,8,9 mostly… and also terminals… She thinks of it as her explosion, but it has a lot more chance of working when the other players are really good… and when they play their best the explosion's chance increases even more according to Onee-chan..."

Hisa glanced at Nodoka when she finished, and whilst the girl was obviously uncomfortable, fidgeting restlessly with the hems of her skirt, she incredibly remained silent. _What on earth is going on with our princess? That girl is having an amazing effect on her._ Eventually the girl realised everyone was looking at her expectedly and her cheeks reddened and her eyes shot downwards, "I may think it's… not real… but I won't deny someone else's experience that easily…"

Hisa, being a person who had had her own experiences denied systematically by the girl with regards to her own bad waits, smirked at that. _You mean you won't deny Miyanaga Saki's experience that easily._ "Sure sure Nodoka." She turned back to the other girl, "Saki, you say the girl thinks of it as her explosion, but how on earth do you know that? Are you friends?"

"Erm… erm… I don't know…"

Hisa raised her eyebrows at that. _She's a really bad liar. What on earth does her sister do to these players?_ "Fair enough Saki. Thank you for that information, it will be useful."

"Really? I'm glad. I'm not really a good speaker so I was worried I wouldn't be any help."

"That's not true at all Saki, you are a great help." Hisa enjoyed the irony a little too much; her difficulty speaking seemed more likely to gift them with information rather than deny it them. "Can you tell us about Eisui as well, if you don't mind?"

Yuuki, who had been quiet so far, spoke up with a dramatic double fist pump, "They have Jindai Komaki! At last an opponent worth my while!"

Maho was typically giggling at her but Saki only laughed politely before starting, "Yes they do and they probably will keep her as their vanguard… almost for sure. My sister worried about her."

"What?" Hisa was incredulous, she heard the girl was monster class but for Miyanaga Teru to be worried about her? _It might be harder than I thought._ "How come?" she asked.

"Well…" she took another nervous glance at Nodoka before continuing, "She… gets triggered… When she is playing against a really powerful opponent like Onee-chan… she becomes really really strong… Like really strong… She falls asleep first… but some teams mistake that for when she is normal... but it's when she is awake that she is normal… she sometimes does really badly against opponents that aren't very strong because they don't trigger her…"  
"Is that…" Nodoka suddenly spoke up, but hesitated, "Is that… what your sister meant the other day?"

When Saki nodded at her Nodoka fell silent again. _I really can't believe she isn't going to say more about that. Even I'm having trouble believing that one. A player has to be asleep to be strong?_

"Can you tell us anything else, Saki?"

"Onee-chan thinks their fifth player is the most dangerous for Kiyosumi. She is really strong but I haven't played against her yet… She… does the same kind of thing that Jindai Komaki does… but it's not as unpredictable and she can't keep it up that long… but she doesn't need strong opponents to use it and she doesn't need to be asleep either so she can decide the best time to use it… I'm sorry Nodoka-chan I know you hate this stuff…"

"Saki-san, I told you not to worry, remember?"

"Yes… sorry… But… onee-chan says that she might beat you… I think you need to know…"

"Know what, Saki-san? Please stop acting so worried- it's making me worry as well."

"When she uses it… she will be able to limit herself to one suit… I don't think you will be able to out speed her when she does that… and with such fast single suit hands it will be hard for you to stay ahead of her…"

"I really don't like the idea of thinking about these things when I play Saki-san… It's just… I do trust you but… I need to do my best for the team too… If she could really do what you are saying why isn't she at the top of the rankings? If I or you or any of us here could do that we would never lose. Even Suga-kun would…"

The entire room laughed slightly at that but it did not soften the atmosphere like Hisa hoped it might. Saki did not seem discouraged though, "She can't maintain it for long Nodoka-chan… and she has been trying to hide it… so it's not really in her record…"

"Saki-san… I just really find it hard to believe… I'm really sorry it's just… superpowers like that…"

Hisa and the rest of the Kiyosumi club sat back and watched this exchange in silence. _Does this count as a lover's quarrel?_ Hisa smiled to herself at that but found it interesting to watch the argument unfold. Nodoka was very obviously having a hard time denying Saki, despite how vigorously and absolutely she usually argued against occult ideas. It was not over either, Saki seemed as determined as any of them to see Kiyosumi through to the semi-final, and Hisa wasn't about to get in her way.

"Nodoka-chan… I know how hard it is for you to believe it… but some things are just…"

Nodoka shook her head, "Logic trumps everything else in mahjong Saki-san. Those things are just coincidence and illusions…"

"Illusions?"

"Yes… When you get lucky whilst you are in a certain mood or because you did a certain thing… the mind associates it with the victory… it's just an illusion Saki-san…"

"My rinshan as well?"

Nodoka did not hesitate. "Yes."

Saki just smiled slightly and closed her eyes. "I don't think that's right Nodoka-chan… You trusted me at the prefectural qualifiers…"

"I will always trust you Saki-san, but I don't see what that has to do with this."

"Back then it was the same thing… I told you not to use riichi because…" she hesitated, clearly concerned with how things were progressing. Hisa contemplated stepping in but instead decided to let it play out. She was interested to see where the conversation went.

Nodoka eventually prompted her herself, "Don't worry Saki-san, this is just a discussion. There's no hard feelings, right? You can say what you want to say without worrying."

_Wow. She's so calm even now, whilst she's being challenged by her girlfriend over one of her fundamental beliefs. I wonder if she will get through to her._

Saki was looking intently at Nodoka as she spoke and smiled with a nod when she finished, "It worked, right?" she asked.

"Yes…"

"And you were so amazing that game. But Nodoka-chan… I told you to do that because… Amae Koromo… she was preventing you from winning when she knew for sure when you were in tenpai… even from a self-draw…"

Nought but silence greeted that. Hisa stared at the girl in wonder. _She is so bold! Is this girl really meant to be shy and weak in person? _The awkward silence seemed to last for an extremely long time, but it soon became clear that their princess was crying. Nodoka was wiping her eyes with her sleeves and was dangerously close to breaking down into full-on weeping. _I guess she wasn't that calm after all. _Hisa was now glad that they had held the discussion now and not in a few days' time.

"I'm sorry Nodoka-chan, I'm really sorry. Please don't cry. I shouldn't have said it" said Saki, just a moment previous so bold yet so easily defeated at the sight of those tears. Hisa realised that it was the right time to call it quits.

"Let's get to some practise okay? Come on give her some room Yuuki, Maho. Stop staring at her. The table is already set up over here." She quickly turned to Saki, "I'll leave her to you." She led them into the bedroom where she had set it up (Okay, where she had made Kyoutarou set it up). The game predictably started off awkwardly, but Yuuki was soon in the groove on her favoured east round.


	19. Chapter 19 - Belief

**Chapter 19 - Belief**

* * *

_Today was supposed to be such a good day… I was so looking forward to it… why did it have to turn out like this? _Nodoka was still sat on the couch, unable to move. _Why did she make me play that way in such an important match? She would never do such a thing unless she was absolutely certain… it would work… but that's insane, she's so smart!_ Nodoka realised faintly that the object of her internal struggle was soothing her and stroking her hair again like that time before, and that the tears were far from over yet.

_Why Saki-san? Why did you have to say that? Why did you have to do it…? _

_It worked._

_That's beside the point. It's just a coincidence!_

_It worked._

_It really did, I beat Amae Koromo when everybody wrote me of... A coincidence! I was getting destroyed and then I followed Saki-san's advice and I won. I lost over 20,000 points on my own without her advice, and I gained nearly 50,000 points with it. _

_It worked. _

_It's just coincidence! There's no way no way no way that nonsense is real._

_But it worked._

She opened her eyes and found she couldn't see much of anything. _Ah, she's hugging me against her chest._ Despite how upset she was the realisation was not without an effect. _This sure is nicer than other times I've been upset… _She instinctively shook her head, distraught at what she was thinking about. _I really am pathetic._ _I shouldn't be thinking about that kind of thing… I need to know why she said that thing she just said... No. I need to understand why she said it. Think about it objectively, scientifically, logically. _

The girl obviously genuinely believed these things are real. That much was made clear by her previous words. _Is she delusional?_ _She shows no signs of being delusional at all. She loves books and mahjong like me, she knows her name, who her friends are, what day it is and shows absolutely no signs of being mentally ill._ _She's not delusional. If she's delusional then what does that make the girl who loves her, anyway? _

_Maybe she is just not clever enough to realise how stupid they are? No. Anyone who is smart enough to manipulate their score on the fly to score +/- 0 at will is not unintelligent. On the contrary; that means she is ridiculously smart, possibly even the smartest person I know. I couldn't even do it consistently when I played all four hands openly. That also answers the question of her credibility as a mahjong player. She is far more accomplished than I am, her credibility is sound. _

_Is she being dishonest? No. Saki-san is always honest with me. An irrational answer, but it has rational backing; data and experience tell me she's telling me the truth, and it is normally easy to tell when she's lying. _

Nodoka thought about these things and did her best to come up with a reason the girl could be wrong. She sobbed loudly into the girl's chest when she realised she had nothing. _This is so humiliating, why is it only me? Why don't the others care?_ Nodoka knew the answer to that._ It's because they believe it as well._ She had known it even as she wondered it and cried harder. _I hate this. I need to get out. I need to leave… I need to stay with Saki-san. I need to… stay with Saki-san…_

"Saki-san… why…." She managed in a shaky voice before it was overridden by an unbidden sob. _This is so humiliating…_

"I'm so sorry Nodoka-chan. I never would have said that if I knew you would take it so badly… but you just seemed so calm and confident I thought it would be okay. I'm so sorry. I really am so sorry."

_Even Saki-san is upset now. I am such a mess and I need to snap out of it._ She spent a few moments doing her best to do just that, the way she always did. "Saki-san…" she managed after a time. Nodoka couldn't have told you how long.

"Nodoka-chan..."

"Is it real?" she asked simply. No answer came._ I can't blame her, I'm such a mess right now I wouldn't want to answer me either, but I really need… to know…_ "Is it?"

"I think so..." _There it is. I knew that would be her answer, yet I hoped against it anyway._ Nodoka wiped her tears on Saki's wonderful and soft chest. _I'm sorry Saki-san, I really am a dirty old man, and I don't have the willpower to stop myself thinking these things right now._

"Saki-san… please take me somewhere… I need to get out of here. Sorry for being this way…"

Saki lifted Nodoka's head up and smiled at her, "Stop worrying about things like that okay? It's my turn to look after you. Of course we can go somewhere."

Nodoka found herself being led by the hand out of their room but she wasn't paying any attention to anything at all; her mind was nearly a blank. She found herself looking down at the back of the girl's ankles and the way the white skirt of the Shiraitodai uniform enveloped them and relinquished them over and over as she walked. Nodoka realised stupidly that the girl was actually barefoot, and that Nodoka herself had no shoes on either. _This is such a mess. What are we doing, Saki-san?_

The feet suddenly came to a halt and Nodoka looked up, confused. Nodoka did not recognise where they were, but they were clearly still in the hotel and on the same floor. Saki turned to her with tears in her eyes, "Nodoka-chan... I'm so sorry… I got us lost…" she really was so upset with herself it was hard to watch her, "You finally needed me… and I…"

"Saki-san, it's fine… please don't cry… I only just pulled myself together a bit… I won't be able to stop myself from crying again if you start…" Nodoka did her best to calm herself down. Saki was wiping her own tears with her sleeves. For the first time since leaving the room Nodoka gauged her surroundings. They were in a hallway, clearly a pretty typical guest area. _We will have absolutely no problem finding our way back; the room numbers make it pretty obvious which direction to go in to reach our own room._ "We may be lost but we are still on the same floor of the hotel, right? It's absolutely fine. We will be back in no time." The girl nodded shyly at that and looked down, embarrassed.

Nodoka took hold of Saki's hand and pulled her the direction they were had been going when Saki had first been leading her. Saki was probably confused but she had spotted something that could be… _It is_. _An outdoor area._ She peaked through the glass door; it seemed to be an accessible balcony area for guests. _This is just perfect._ She turned to Saki, "See Saki? You have managed to get us to this wonderful balcony! Want to spend some time here, if it isn't too cold without any socks on?"

Saki seemed to be embarrassed at the realisation she was barefoot but she was also clearly happy that her bad sense of direction had for once resulted in some serendipity. She nodded enthusiastically and so they stepped out into the fresh breeze. The view of Tokyo was good, but Nodoka suspected its true potential lay later on in a pitch black night. When the lights of the city would come into their own.

"It's pretty..." Saki pointed out

"It is, isn't it?" she agreed.

They were both leaning on the side of the balcony together for a while before Nodoka thought she might be able to say what she meant to say. She spoke whilst maintaining her gaze on the view before her, unable to look at the girl she was addressing. "Saki-san…"

The girl cut her off before she could get started, "You don't have to force yourself Nodoka-chan. You don't have to believe in that stuff. You have won up until now without it, right?"

Nodoka kept her gaze strictly ahead, "That is right Saki-san and I really can't believe in it. I really can't. It's not real. There's just no way it's real."

"Okay Nodoka-chan. That's okay. Do you want to go back to the room?"

Nodoka didn't respond to that, and she wouldn't have been able even if she wanted to. _She's so disappointed in me right now. It's too easy to hear it in her voice. _The girl's uselessness when it came to hiding her emotions and her honesty really were a double-edged sword and Nodoka was struggling to cope with it right now. She turned shakily to the girl, "S-Saki-san." Saki just stood there staring back at her, confused at her tears. "Saki-san." She repeated blankly. _Why is this so hard?_

"N-Nodoka-chan… are you okay?"

"Saki-san… I can't believe in that… superstitious nonsense… but I can believe in you…" Nodoka looked into those eyes doing her best not to flinch, "I do believe in you… If you tell me what to do against… these players you think will beat me… I will do it… whatever it is. I promise."

Saki looked back at her, smiling. "Nodoka-chan, you really are so strong." Nodoka looked down at her feet at that, embarrassed. _I don't feel strong Saki-san. _"Let's work hard together to figure out how to win against those girls, okay?" Nodoka nodded shyly at the girl, happy at least that she had vanquished the disappointment in the girl's voice. They walked back to the club room together with Nodoka feeling a little better at least.

She and Saki just watched the game of mahjong unfold once they got back, with Yuuki taking the victory in the hanchan with the president placing second.

"You have really improved in the south round Yuuki." Nodoka told the girl, and she meant it. The girl was not nearly so bad in that round anymore and even gained points there occasionally, even against strong opponents like Mako and the president.

Yuuki looked up happily, "That's right! Soon I will be unstoppable in the south as well as the east!"

Maho giggled at her, "I knocked you off your East dealership today though Yuu-chan!"

"Yes…" Yuuki put on a far too pronounced tone, presumably the girl was trying to sound incredibly serious, "You have learnt well, young one. Very well indeed."

For once Nodoka was thankful for their absurd way of talking to each other, it had put the atmosphere back to normal and she finally felt like she could relax again.

"Come take my seat Nodoka, you still need to play a bit, right?" the president told her, getting up.

"Thank you president."

"No problem at all."

"Hey no fair. Saki-chan you aren't allowed to watch!" Yuuki said loudly, "Come watch me play instead! I'll show you the true nature of power!" She flexed her arm at Saki drawing a small giggle out of Maho. Saki looked down at Nodoka, clearly not knowing what to do. Nodoka nodded for her to go. _It's fine. I really want to hold your hand, but I won't make you choose._

Nodoka found it extremely hard to concentrate during the game. Not because of the near-confrontation with her favourite person but because every time she looked up, she found that person and their eyes would lock. _How am I supposed to play like this? Her smile is so beautiful, I can't think of anything else. _She ended the first hanchan in third place, barely behind Mako but Yuuki was first and was letting the successive victories get to her head.

"See Saki-chan? This is true power! You and your sister could learn a thing or two from Kataoka Yuuki, no doubt." Saki laughed at that and Maho was in giggles again, which unsurprisingly encouraged Yuuki onwards, "Two flawless victories in a row! And now I have added your girlfriend's name to my list of victims!" _Oh my god… Stop it Yuuki. No one has called us that yet! But at least Saki-san is laughing and blushing... I'm glad she's okay with being called that... _Yuuki wasn't finished however, "If I win the next one Nodo-chan you have to give me your boobs!"

"No I don't!" she yelled instinctively, far too loudly. The entire table burst into laughter, even Mako. "Not you too Someya-senpai… why am I the only one embarrassed?" she said amidst the sea of laughter. She did her best to avoid looking at Saki who was the only person who had not laughed at the joke, and instead deliberately focused on pushing the tiles into the centre of the table.

They started the next hanchan quickly after that and Nodoka found she was mostly used to having her girl opposite her and was finding it slightly easier to concentrate.

"Ron" she said, "8300."

"Awww what? But Someya-senpai just discarded that tile 2 turns ago." Yuuki whined, handing her the sticks.

"It was a calculated strike." She looked up at Saki and gave the girl a smile. _I wish you could play with us, Saki-san._

She came in first in the end in the second hanchan, with Yuuki ending up in last place. She looked up at Nodoka grumpily, "I guess you can keep your boobs this time..."

"… I would have anyway Yuuki…" _It just feels awkward when she says those jokes… I can't look at Saki-san right now._ _I wish Yuuki would stop making them in front of her at least._

"Shall we keep playing?" Nodoka asked them.

"You betcha!" Yuuki rolled the dice without waiting for anyone else's input, but no one seemed to mind and they continued.

Saki came around to sit next to her for the new hanchan. Nodoka was surprised at how tentatively she reached her hand over, obviously wanting to hold hands but _what?_ _Scared of rejection? Worried she will bother me? She's so silly._ "Don't worry, Saki-san." she whispered after she discarded a tile. Because it was a floor table they were sitting on tatami mats to play instead of chairs.

Whilst floor tables, in Nodoka's opinion, made things more uncomfortable normally, it meant that she could cuddle right up to Saki whilst playing this time. Nodoka, feeling bold after her last win, placed her hand on the girl's waist to guide her gently to where she needed to be. _That's where you belong, Saki-san. That's exactly where you belong._ She wasn't feeling bold enough however to prevent the blush from spreading across her face because of her action.

"Sorry…" They were so close that Saki was able to whisper directly into her ear, "I didn't know if you would want to… after… before…" The girl's breath on her ear was so unnerving Mako had to tell her when it was her turn again.

"Sorry about that" she told her sempai, discarding a tile before leaning back to whisper back to her girl, "Don't be daft Saki-san. Of course I still want you near me and to hold my hand. I'm not such a weak person that I would let an argument like that get in the way of our time together." She leaned forwards just in time for her turn. _Tenpai._ "Riichi!" she placed her riichi stick into the placeholder. Saki's head was currently resting on her shoulder. _This is so nice… at least the day turned out fine after all._

Kyoutarou had entered the room at some point and was watching the game with the president and he seemed to be having something explained by the president, which wasn't all that surprising. "Tsumo." She said, checking the ura dora quickly before announcing the points she needed.

They finished playing before it was late. Maho and Yuuki ran off together, apparently to watch the side A matches but Nodoka was all too aware that what those two said they were going to do didn't always match up with what they actually ended up doing. Kyoutarou went with them and the two of them were arguing loudly about which of them would get to "hold the doggy's leash." _Poor Suga-kun. _Mako and Hisa left for the bath and eventually only Saki and Nodoka were left in the room.

"What would you like to do with the rest of the day, Saki-san?" she asked the girl, elated that the day still held so much promise after her earlier surprise.

Saki looked downwards and spoke in a quiet voice, "I was hoping… if… that we could go buy some ingredients… but only if you still want to make that bento… with me."

"Oh of course let's do that. And of course I still want to Saki-san and I promised you that we would. You should be more confident."

"Yes I'm sorry Nodoka-chan. But… I don't know where we can buy them…"

"Just leave that kind of thing to me Saki-san. You really do worry too much."

"Yeah… I just... I just don't want to be a burden to you…"

"We've been over that already, remember? You will never be a burden to me Saki-san. Anyway let's go catch a train into town; it should be easy to find a good store for some ingredients there. Oh and Saki-san, make sure you have your phone just in case." _It's lucky I remembered that, I don't know what I would do if she got lost in a busy area in town without it._

In the same moment that Nodoka was having those thoughts Saki brought out the phone out of her pocket, revealing that she actually had it already with a smile. "I put my penguin phone strap on it… instead of just carrying around the toy I now remember the phone, see?"

"You were just carrying around the penguin strap itself? You are just so adorable you can't be real." Nodoka hesitated, thoughtful, "We might not…"

"Nodoka-chan?"

_I don't know how she does this kind of thing all the time so easily_. Determined, she looked at the girl and gave it another go, "We might not… be able to kiss whilst we are out so… I wanted to now…"

"Oh… I really want to as well…" She said and leaned in for a nice long kiss. "Shall we go?" Saki asked once it was over, still mildly red-faced from the sweet kiss. Nodoka lacked the girl's composure and so instead simply nodded and followed her out.

Hisa was relaxing in the bath with Mako and fortunately they were alone. Talking to this girl cleared her head, and doing so in the bath was a good deal of fun. They hadn't really discussed anything besides from small things like food and the venue itself. That was about to change. "Do you think Saki got through to her?" she asked the girl with a grin. She didn't have to tell Mako who "her" meant.

"Honestly I have no idea. She didn't seem any different when she came back, and she sure did recover fast. I was expecting her to be out of it for days after that."

"That is strange isn't it? I figure it probably means Nodoka still doesn't think they are real. Saki gave in so fast when she started crying."

Mako laughed at that, "She really did, didn't she? One second she was ripping the princess to pieces and in the next she was almost crying herself."

Hisa shrugged, "Nodoka talks so much differently to that girl. It would be a shame if she still can't accept those things. The way Saki was worrying about our chances of getting through was really off-putting, and that's even though there are two qualifying positions which should play to Nodoka's strengths. She is Nodochi after all; net mahjong still gives bonuses for being second place last I checked so she should have prefer the format if anything."

"Yes that was slightly unnerving wasn't it? But what can we do about it, anyway? I want to win this tournament as much as you president, but you know as well as I do that there's only one person with a shot of making her see it. We should focus more on Maho and Yuuki. We didn't end up getting any information on Maho's opponents from Saki right? Don't we need to learn the types of abilities she will have access to?"

Hisa nodded at that, "Yes we do, and the Eisui player who played in her position at their prefectural tournament has a very obvious quirk. The play records make it pretty clear that she draws wind tiles to herself somehow, and she did manage to land several yakuman at the qualifiers. I still haven't found anything else, and our opponents tomorrow have nothing for her. I looked at those but they are quite plainly normal players. All four."

"That's a shame, but that shouldn't really matter right? I expect us to win tomorrow. Ryuumonbuchi are stronger in every position than some of tomorrow's teams."

"Yes that's true, but Maho really lacks for confidence and I wish she would be able to gain some. If Yuuki wasn't around I don't know how she would cope now that Nodoka spends all of her time with Saki."

"What, really? I thought we got on with her fine."

"Yeah I guess so. She would probably cope but I still would have preferred the girl to win some points in the game tomorrow, but at this rate I will just have to end it before it reaches her."

"Seriously?"

Hisa winked at the girl, "You just know it."

They relaxed in peace for over ten minutes after that, but Mako had a question, speaking up and breaking the silence, "Come to think of it president… You asked that weird question earlier… about the explosion girl. You clearly had something in mind, and the way Saki suddenly got all anxious meant something, right?"

"Ah, that? Didn't you notice? The girl said she knew everything about that girl 'because her sister played against her' and then went on to tell us about the girl's own thoughts. She also knew a great deal about Eisui's Iwato Kasumi. Her play records don't show anything like Saki was saying, but do you doubt that she can do that? I know I don't."

"No way… you can't mean… Miyanaga Teru is some kind of mind reader?"

"I have no idea, but there has to be something spectacular behind those incredible win streaks she gets, right?"

"I guess… but that is pretty terrifying. I'm glad I won't have to play against her."

"You and me both."

Nodoka found she could completely forget about how upset she was earlier in the day whilst she was walking around Tokyo with Saki. They stopped at many different shops and eventually both of them had a bag in one hand and each other's hand in the other. Saki had even found a beautiful bento in a small antiques store that was perfectly sized for what they wanted and had nicely sized built in compartments.

The lid was made out of green velvet with exquisite gold stitching in the shape of a flower, whilst the main body of the bento was expensive looking black plastic. Nodoka was just glad the girl hadn't been present to see the price when she bought it. Once Saki had picked it out Nodoka found she needed to have it regardless of how expensive it was, but she had saved her money specifically for this trip anyway just in case she had the opportunity to indulge the girl. The wonderful gold illustration of a flower also matched Saki's name which made it perfect in Nodoka's mind.

Their time in town was cut short when Saki expressed a desire to return and Nodoka found she was tired as well. It had been a long day and they had what they needed so they were soon back at the hotel with their ingredients.

"Do you want to make it tomorrow Saki? I don't think we will have time to eat it in here today unless we want… an audience." Nodoka found herself blushing at the last word, perhaps because she realised just how weird it was to want to eat a small meal in private, unless such a meal was not wholly innocent.

"That's a good idea Nodoka-chan!" Saki responded easily, apparently not feeling any of that embarrassment herself. "Do you want to go to the bath instead?"

"I guess that is a good idea. Shall we then?"

Luckily there was no one in the room when they entered. _There's one positive to using the baths at such a weird time at least._ Once they were changed into towels and in the washing area Saki turned to Nodoka with a big smile on her face, "Nodoka-chan… do you want to wash my hair and back today?"

_Oh my god. _"Erm … I… I don't… I… " _I should never have told her about that._ Nodoka took a deep breath before trying again, "You are a cruel girl Saki-san." She said trying to sound half-hearted, "but I have absolutely no problem cleaning your hair and back for you." _Two can play this at game._

"What?" Saki stared at her with her mouth wide open, "Seriously Nodoka-chan?"

"Yes why not?" Nodoka said, doing her best to sound indifferent to the idea she continued, "Frankly Saki-san I don't see why cleaning you is such a big deal."

"Oh… okay. I guess you can then…" _Oh my god Saki-san… I'm joking! Read the atmosphere!_ The girl even seemed disappointed at Nodoka's indifference. _She really picked a bad time to stop being able to read my mind._ To Nodoka's astonishment the girl walked over to one of the shower heads, placed the towel that was covering her nakedness almost nonchalantly to the side, brushed her hair away from her back and looked over her shoulder at Nodoka. Nodoka just stared back at her, dumbfounded. _What do I do?_ Nodoka surprised herself and began walking towards the girl. She soon found herself standing behind her girl with the sponge in one hand and the showerhead in the other.

Nodoka was finding it extremely hard to think with the girl sitting naked in front of her. _Oh right I need to wash her hair. How does that even go again?_

"Nodoka-chan?"

The girl's voice snapped her out of her spacing out. _Oh I remember. I need to turn it on and make sure the temperature is okay first. No problem Nodoka just stay calm. _She put down the sponge and turned it on. Getting to a good temperature was easy. _Too easy. _Nodoka was hoping for a few moments to compose herself, but it took less than 10 seconds to find a temperature that was not too hot or too cold._ We should have gone to a cheaper hotel._

"Tell me if the temperature… is not good… okay?" she tried, but her voice was trembling so badly that she was sure Saki would notice.

"No problem Nodoka-chan." She said without any hesitation.

"Yes…" _How is she so relaxed?_ Once her hair was suitably wet Nodoka picked it up in her hands and added the shampoo quickly. _Okay here we go. It's just hair. I just need to lather it up._ She began rubbing the shampoo into the girl's hair, doing her best to be as gentle as she could and to avoid getting shampoo near her eyes. "Your hair is so smooth and pretty Saki-san…" she commented, "Do you use something in particular at home? Some kind of special conditioner maybe?"

"Err..." Saki suddenly started looking downwards at that, and Nodoka could almost sense the blush forming on her cheeks, "I-I… don't know… I just use the shampoo onee-chan buys… I don't even remember what it's called…"

"You are just so adorable Saki-san." Nodoka was relieved to find she could relax far more than she could have anticipated, and was enjoying rubbing the shampoo into Saki's hair who seemed to be struggling to recover from her previous embarrassment. "I'm going to rinse you now, is that okay?"

"Oh… Okay."

She didn't have any problems at all quickly rinsing the shampoo out. _That was so much easier than I thought it would be._ _But next…_ "I am going… to clean your back now Saki-san…" She picked the sponge up gingerly and, after making sure it was sufficiently soapy she placed it on the girl's lower back. Saki made a high "Oh" sound the moment the sponge touched her and Nodoka immediately felt the blood rushing to her face. _Next time I'm just doing her hair! How am I going to calm down when she's making noises like that?_ She gently brought the sponge up the girl's delicate back to her neck and gently wiped the area around there. _Her skin is so soft and smooth… _

Nodoka rinsed what she had done so far, eager for a break. _How am I going to get through the rest?_ She picked up the girl's right arm and gently raised it so it was above her head, holding it there with her free hand. _I will need to clean this area sooner or later... just stay calm… it might as well be Yuuki who I'm touching…_ She brought the sponge to her side and softly brought it upwards. Saki turned her head and looked at her over her shoulder as she was doing this and Nodoka found her own eyes wandering up from the girl's body to meet the girl's gaze. _Oh my god…_

"Saki-san… I… I can't…" she stuttered, shifting her gaze away from the girl, "I have to stop. I really have to…"

Saki interrupted her. "Nodoka-chan… it's okay…" The girl turned towards her and slowly wrapped her hands around her neck, her hair still wet and stuck to her head. "Nodoka… chan…" Her face was extremely close to her own now, "it's… okay…" she repeated, in a whisper.

Nodoka stared stupidly back at the girl, trembling with the sponge and the showerhead still in her outstretched hands. She barely even knew it when she whispered back to the girl, "Saki-san…"

Then the naked girl's lips were touching her own, awkwardly at first but Nodoka soon found herself kissing the girl back. She would not be able to stop herself, she knew that now and it seemed that Saki would not allow that to happen either. Nodoka slid her arms around the girl's waist, her hands placed on that soft smooth back that was the culprit that had tempted her so.

Nodoka was all too aware that the only thing separating their bodies was the towel that was still wrapped around Nodoka herself, and she didn't even notice when she dropped the items she was holding, the showerhead falling to the ground with a clunk. Nodoka's hands slipped up over the girl's wet back easily, and for some reason that just made the kiss more exciting.

It didn't last long however before they heard voices from the changing room; voices that were growing louder. Nodoka almost jumped out of her skin. _Oh my god!_ They pushed away from each other nearly violently. _This was so stupid. What am I doing?_ _What are we doing?! It wasn't okay at all! _Saki quickly reclaimed the showerhead they had just been using and Nodoka nearly dived to the one to the right of the girl. Nodoka stole a glance at Saki just before the new girls arrived and she was so red-faced Nodoka could almost have laughed given different circumstances.

Nodoka was doing her best to wet her hair as Ryuumonbuchi Touka walked in with an impressive entourage. All of their team seemed to have decided to bath together, including Amae Koromo and the two girls who made Saki cry at the training camp.

"It seems we are not the only ones here." Ryuumonbuchi Touka commented to her escort.

"Oh! It's Nonoka and Saki-chan!" Koromo wasted no time in running over to them, and unbelievably she threw herself at Saki, wrapping her hands around the girl's neck hugging her shamelessly. _Oh my god… she just… They are both naked…_ Realization dawned on Nodoka at that. _Oh my god, am I jealous? Pull yourself together Nodoka!_ Unfortunately for Saki the girl didn't take long in noticing her current condition. "You don't look good Saki-chan. Your face is really red."

"Hello there Koromo-san, and Ryuumonbuchi-tachi." Nodoka said as calmly as she could manage, "Saki-san isn't feeling very well. She must have eaten something bad whilst we were in town."

"Yes… sorry to be such a bother Koromo-chan…" she said quietly, almost in a mumble.

"It's san, not chan! I'm older than you are!"

"Yeah… sorry… Koromo-san."

"Come on Koromo stop bothering them." Touka called, a merciful sound to Nodoka's ears.

After Ryuumonbuchi were settled down in the bath talking Saki followed their lead and spoke quietly, under her breath, "I'm really sorry Nodoka-chan… I just couldn't help it…"

"I understand all too well Saki-san… but I guess I really can't wash your back." She whispered to the girl.

Saki-san looked back at her in surprise, and when Nodoka winked slyly at her she began to laugh. Nodoka smiled and continued washing her own hair. Nodoka actually enjoyed the ridiculous situation they had found themselves in although she suspected that might have been different if they had been caught. The way her heart was still pounding in her chest was not uncomfortable and Nodoka enjoyed thinking about their dangerous embrace and kiss whilst she finished washing her hair.

They eventually joined Ryuumonbuchi in the bath and it was surprisingly pleasant. The two girls who had been involved with them in the whole cold Touka fainting thing (Nodoka felt that calling it an 'incident' was ridiculous) were slightly awkward at first, but it didn't take long before they were able to relax and enjoy themselves like always.


	20. Chapter 20 - Picnic

**Chapter 20 - Picnic**

* * *

It was the day of the match and Nodoka found herself huddled on the sofa of the viewing room with Maho and Yuuki. Saki was not there unfortunately, but she said she would be watching their game with her sister and Awai in the spectator's hall. Mako had just finished and Kiyosumi already had a commanding lead over the other three schools. Yuuki had an incredible score, absolutely dominating the other players in her east round in the first match, but Mako's score was really good as well.

Neither of them compared to the president though, who managed a renchan that was more impressive than her own against Ryuumonbuchi to end the match during the Lieutenant's round. _The president is as reliable as always, we might even win this thing at this rate!_ The president appeared in the doorway with a much more pensive expression on her face than Nodoka would have predicted. She frowned at that before rushing to her with the rest of Kiyosumi to sing her praises.

"You were so awesome president!" Maho exclaimed, her arm around Yuuki's neck. "So awesome!"

"You really were president. We can always count on you" Nodoka told her.

"Yep yep no problem. But we don't have much of a rest before our next game, right?" she said with a grin.

Nodoka wasn't sure she should be relieved or disappointed that she wouldn't have to play, but supposed she shouldn't be too greedy. Better this than they struggle to get through at all. Nodoka noticed movement out of the corner of her eye at the entrance. Saki had arrived and was peeking into the room nervously. "Saki-san!" she called instinctively, "Don't worry just come in."

"Yes please don't stand back there Saki-san." The president agreed.

"Yes sorry. Congratulations on your victory." She addressed the entire club, "you were amazing! You sunk that school just like that Takei-san."

"Just Hisa is fine, and thank you- but the real test is yet to come, right?"

"Right! But if you keep on playing like that there will be no problem! Kiyosumi will definitely get to the semi-finals!" she told the room with a bright smile. They responded pretty nervously to that, but Maho and Yuuki were quickly arguing intently about who would have the stronger opponent come the battle against Eisui. "My opponent scores wind yakumans! Yakumans!", "Jindai Komaki was amazing last year!" Nodoka sighed outwardly. _Those two never stop._

Saki turned to Nodoka, "I wonder who will make it into our match."

"That's right; the matches that decide your opponents are tomorrow aren't they. Will you be watching them Saki-san?"

"If you want to watch them we can, but onee-chan will record the captain's match for me so we can do whatever you want." She said, smiling.

"Your sister really takes care of you, doesn't she?" Nodoka teased, "I wish I had an older sister like that."

"Yeah she does, doesn't she? I guess I should stop burdening her like this."

"Saki-san you need to stop thinking that about yourself. I guarantee you your sister doesn't think of you as such. I've seen the way she looks at you- you are her favourite person and probably the only person she ever smiles for." Nodoka hadn't meant to say all that, but once she started it just all came out. _I really don't like her calling herself that word._

"You really think so Nodoka-chan?" Saki asked her, apparently baffled that that could be the case.

"I know so Saki-san, so just keep on doing what you're doing, and don't worry about silly things like burdening people, okay? Anyway, let's not waste the time the president has given us. Shall we go and prepare that bento? Do you need to tell your sister and Awai-chan where you are?"

"I really would love to! It's okay though; Onee-chan and Awai-chan went to watch Himematsu play after dropping me off. Shall we go?"

They were soon on their way to the Kiyosumi room, and once more Nodoka found she was thankful for the fact that trains were so much more reliable in Tokyo than in Nagano.

Saki was surprisingly useful in the kitchen. She knew how to use everything and washed the rice herself before leaving a good amount to drain in the sink.

"Why were you so self-deprecating the other day Saki-san? You seem to know exactly what you are doing- I'm sure any bento you made would be delicious."

She laughed sheepishly at that, "Oh… I guess I usually make the bento for me and my sister for school…"

"See? It's not like it's only your sister doing things for you at all Saki-san."

Saki just laughed and scratched her head at that, bending down to busy herself with her work. She was focusing on cooking the prawns she had insisted on buying on the pan. At the time Saki had told Nodoka that she would love them and Nodoka couldn't wait to try them, at least partly because it would be this girl who cooked them. _I need to work hard as well._ She opened up the karaage she had purchased and began cooking them whilst she wrapped some of the cherry tomatoes she had bought with lettuce to complete a compartment.

Saki smiled when she noticed it, "Oh that's really nice Nodoka-chan. I usually just dump everything in… but that is just so pretty. I will do my best as well."

Nodoka hadn't thought anything of the action, being nothing but routine but was now finding it hard to do anything but stutter and look away embarrassed. "D-Don't worry about anything you don't usually do Saki-san." She managed eventually, unable to make eye contact.

"Don't worry, I want to do it- this bento is special, right?" she asked, looking happily over at Nodoka.

Nodoka nodded once and got back to her karaage still red-faced, but she managed to busy herself with the karaage which was not too far from completion. The oven area wasn't really used much by the team besides from of course Kyoutarou, who had somehow been coaxed into learning how to make tacos for Yuuki, and seemed to spend a lot what little of his free time he had left making those silly things.

Eventually Nodoka was able to calm down, and on the whole experience turned out to be a relaxing one. _Maybe one day we could live together like this…_ She caught herself this time, chastising herself for letting her mind wander so far into future to such an idealised situation. _It really would be nice though. Being her wife really would be… _and just like that, Nodoka's calm was ruined to the point where all she could do was hope that Saki didn't notice how randomly embarrassed she was.

Nodoka was extremely satisfied with the end result. Saki was the one who provided the finishing touches, by placing a line of wieners down the middle of the box so cutely that Nodoka snuck a picture of her doing it. She had stood back with her phone to take the picture getting a nice angle where both her face and the bento were clearly visible, and luckily the girl didn't notice.

"It's finished!" Saki declared with that wonderful smile on her face. She looked up at Nodoka, "let's put the lid on it together!"

Nodoka felt herself blushing at that request, but could not refuse in the end. _I only do these silly sentimental things with her, and I love doing them._ They picked the beautiful velvet lid up together and gently placed it on the box. Nodoka found herself wiping her own eyes, cursing herself for being so emotional.

Saki was observing her with a curious expression on her face, "Nodoka-chan… are you… cry-"

Nodoka cut her off, "I don't know what you are talking about" she said shakily, "Not at all!" she tried to turn away, doing her best to wipe her tears away.

Saki caught her hands as she was turning and turned her back around easily so that Nodoka was facing the girl again. Saki slowly leant forwards on tiptoes to kiss just below her right eye and then she did the same for her left, "Tears tears fly away." She sang easily. _I wonder if she remembers the first time she did that for me._

"Saki-san…" she whispered as the girl was doing it.

She watched as the girl reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a pink ribbon, and turned her attention back to the bento. She ever so delicately tied it around the thing; smiling to herself she did it and humming a melody that Nodoka did not recognise. She was wearing the cute expression on her face, the look of loose concentration and carefreeness that she had worn whilst placing the wieners in the bento.

Nodoka was too confused to think to take another picture however, "When did you… Where did you get that?" she asked.

"When you were buying the box… I ran next door to buy it." She smiled, "I don't think the colours go very well with the box… but it matches… your hair…"

"Oh…" _Oh my god… she's always doing such cute things with me in mind…_ "You are so wonderful to think of that Saki-san… and it's just perfect for the box. Thank you."

"No problem! I was so scared though Nodoka-chan, that I would get lost… even though I was only next door. If you had to find me I wouldn't have been able to surprise you with it."

"Saki-san… Thank you; it really is a nice thought. I somehow… think it would be a waste to eat it in here… I think we should eat it outside somewhere… in a nice area… like a picnic."

Saki was immediately distressed at that idea, "But… but… I want to… I want to…"

"Shh Saki-san. I know, I really do and I wouldn't dream of denying you after all of this. We will just have to find a private area where we can be sure no one will spot us."

"Oh." Saki was palpably relieved, "That's a good idea I think Nodoka-chan, I would also prefer to eat somewhere else."

"Shall we go then?"

She nodded enthusiastically and held out her hand. Nodoka took it gladly.

Miyanaga Teru watched the Side B vanguard match with something close to interest, but it was not quite there. After seeing that Senriyama were fielding Toki as their vanguard as expected, she immediately switched the channel much to Awai's displeasure. She landed on one of the other games that were simultaneously taking place where a team named Achiga were in the lead. It took about 5 seconds to know exactly what their vanguard did, and that she would be without a hope against Teru besides from giving her a slight headache with increasing her hand value.

The girl was a dora magnet to put it simply. Teru often used dora to increase her hands value but now it seemed she wouldn't have any at all. _I hope that team doesn't get through._ To Awai's growing disgruntlement she switched the channel again, finding the third set of teams that would join her in the vanguard match. _Normal players all._ She put her spoon back into her pudding and turned to Awai, "That girl who hoards doras is going to be irritating." she said simply.

"Poor Teru…" she stroked Teru's hair affectionately, "but put Senriyama back on!"

Teru passed her the remote and leaned back onto the headrest of the couch they were on. Awai was sitting next to her rocking back and forth watching the game. Teru spoke calmly, "We have to record the captain matches for Saki. I thought she might watch this with us, but I suppose she's off with Haramura Nodoka again."

"Aww is Teru jealous?" Awai teased, before stroking her head on Teru's cheek the way she seemed to always enjoy doing.

"No. I'm happy she's having a good time." She told the girl truthfully, "but she's paid no attention to mahjong so far."

"Saki-chan will be fine; unless you think one of these teams have someone really scary."

"Rinkai will."

"That's ages away Teruuuu" she sang. Awai seemed to be trying to make saying the word "Teru" an art.

"It's less than a week away."

"Wow really? This tournament just flies by! And we haven't even played yet."

"That reminds me. We need to get some substitutes to look at Rinkai and a few of the other teams on side A for us. Footage and play records of Rinkai definitely and maybe one or two others. Shindouji and I think Usuzan as well."

"Usuzan? Who are they?" asked Awai.

"No one in particular… most of their players are no threat at all, but their vice-captain and captain look like they might be extremely dangerous."

"Oh. I guess Takami-senpai might be in trouble! But Saki-chan should be fine, right? She did beat you after all!"

Teru shook her head, "That girl might be on our level from what I've seen, and Rinkai will likely be there with them if they do make it through which means she will have several really good players to deal with. Could you inform Seiko about it for me? I would like her personally to look at Usuzan's captain. Reports on the rest are fine. I know Rinkai's vanguard already in particular, and we've seen Davin Megan before."

"Oh yeah you played against Satoha in the individuals final. Can she win against you?"

Teru shook her head. Awai looked up at her with bright eyes with an equally bright smile as the television once again revealed a riichi ippatsu tsumo performed by Onjouji Toki.

There was a small park just a single train station away from their hotel which Nodoka had found out about from a helpful guidebook that the hotel itself provided, and it was the place they chose for their picnic. The day was fortunately sunny, if slightly hot, and the grass was green. It was a nice day and Nodoka couldn't wait for their meal together.

The tree they chose was large and green and so offered a nice amount of shade. In their search Nodoka and Saki had come upon this promising area that sealed the deal when it revealed its grass was thick enough that it would be comfortable to sit on for an extended period. Fortunately she had a large table cloth tucked under her arm with the bento. Whilst she was remiss to use such an item like this for such a purpose, it was better than sitting on the ground.

They started by sitting together and doing nothing in particular, Saki was lying against Nodoka with her head on her shoulder, asleep and Nodoka found herself partially dozing off as well, almost as if the girl's habitual sleep was catching. _This is so nice; we ought to have come here even without the food._ The bento was still tucked uncomfortably underneath Nodoka's arm. She placed it adjacent to the tree and allowed herself to drift off in thought.

Just as she felt her eyes starting to close she spotted a girl in the distance. She didn't hesitate; she made her way to her feet and went in that direction, sure she had seen the girl somewhere before. It wasn't long before she was walking down a path, a path with massive Sakura trees lining either side showering her with those beautiful pink petals they were famous for. She became aware that it was dark out, and looked up. Incredible arrays of stars were laid out before her._ That's weird, being able to see them so clearly in the city._ The girl she had seen was running towards her, and more over there were other girls with her. Other girls she recognized.

The girl she had first spotted had a brown pony tail and her old Achiga middle school uniform on. _Shizu-san._ Another was tiny and couldn't have been older than about 10, bearing a striking resemblance to her friend Yuuki, but Nodoka knew that was not right. _It's Ako-chan._ There was one with beautiful long and straight black hair. _That's Kuro-san._ The final person and sole adult of the bunch was easily recognisable with her red hair as Akado-sensei.

Nodoka had no idea what the girls were doing there, but she sprinted to the girls happily. _It has been so long!_ She tried to call out, but she couldn't seem to make a sound. _Ako-chan! Kuro-san! Shizu-san!_ Nothing. She could hear them faintly laughing, running towards her. But for some reason the sound was oddly getting fainter rather than louder. Nodoka redoubled her efforts and ran faster. _You never exercise, do you Nodoka?_ She heard them joke.

_Nodoka-chan…_

She was almost there when suddenly the area began to shake. Nodoka stopped and looked around, concerned. _Is this an earthquake?_ _Why does it have to be now?_ The trembling was nearly unbearable, but she forced herself onwards regardless. Just as she was about to come into sight of her old friends a crevice opened in front of her with a loud _crack_. Black and red smoke poured out of the hole, obscuring the view of her old friends.

She brought her hands up to her face instinctively to protect herself, but found that none of the smoke was coming her way, just upwards. _Surely this awful smoke will pass us buy soon._ But it didn't, and if anything even more of it poured out, making the air more opaque. She screamed her old friend's names at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't even a single sound from the other side of the crevice any longer over the rumblings of the earth.

_Nodoka-chan…_

She crept gingerly towards the crevice, and held out her hand trying desperately to reach the other side. When she received no response she pulled her hand back, half-expecting it to be covered with black dust, but her hand was miraculously clean. The smoke was as thick as ever, but almost as if her hand had triggered a spell, the ground halted shaking and the smoke began to dissipate.

_Nodoka-chan…_

She needed to see the other side. She awaited it eagerly, desperate to see what had become of those friends that she had so sadly lost touch with. Suddenly the trembling started up again and the crevice... it was becoming bigger. No, it wasn't just getting bigger; it was rapidly expanding in Nodoka's direction. She turned and fled as fast as she could. _You don't exercise very much, do you?_ Then she began to fall… falling… falling… falling… and then she was in Saki's arms.

"Nodoka-chan… Are you okay… Nodoka-chan?" When the disorientation of the dream wore off she realised the girl she had fallen asleep with was looking at her with a look of concern on her face and that she was being lightly held. Saki had one of her arms around her and was stroking her hair with the other. "Nodoka-chan…?"

"Yes… sorry Saki-san I just had a… I think it was a nightmare… but I don't know…"

"Huh? I don't understand Nodoka-chan, but I think it was definitely a nightmare… you were moaning in your sleep… you seemed really scared." Saki was clearly still worried, "I should have woken you up sooner I guess… but I read that waking someone up when they were in middle of a bad dream could drive them…"

Nodoka cut her off before she could say it, "Don't worry about that superstitious silliness Saki-san, I have heard that as well but it's not true, and is just superstition at best. There is no scientific data that supports it at all." Nodoka brought her sleeve up to just above her eyes and wiped away the sweat that had formed there, "Don't worry about that any more Saki-san, how about we eat now?" she asked, doing her best to smile for her girl, but she felt worn. The dream had unnerved her more than she liked to admit.

"You shouldn't pretend to be okay when you aren't, remember?" she asked with a smile, "How about we take a quick walk? I think moving around would do you good, it always helps me after a bad dream."

Nodoka nodded. "Okay, I think that's a good idea."_ I'll never understand how she always seems to know what I'm thinking. _She took Saki's hand into her own and squeezed, "Thank you for taking care of me Saki-san." _Why did I have that dream now? I haven't seen those girls in years…and why was it so… scary? I only have fond memories of those girls…_

Saki simply blushed and smiled, leading her away from the tree. They didn't spend long walking, but Nodoka found it really cleared her head and she was feeling a lot better when they returned to the tree less than five minutes later, the dream not much more than a fading memory.

"Thank you Saki-san, I feel better now."

"I'm glad… Do you want… to eat now?" she asked, staring down at the bento where Nodoka had left it.

"Why are you so nervous Saki-san?" She sat back down in that position she had dreamt that scary dream and gestured for Saki to take her hand and sit down. They were soon huddled together with Nodoka smiling at the way Saki eagerly watched the bento as she took it from where she had left it and placed it in her lap.

"Shall we, Nodoka-chan?" she asked, holding one end of the ribbon she had tied into a bow earlier in her hand and was smiling at her. Nodoka knew what she wanted. She reached out for the other end of the bow and they opened it together, Nodoka unable to stop herself from feeling embarrassed as they did it.

Saki gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Stop worrying Nodoka-chan. Let's just enjoy ourselves, okay?"

"Okay… I'll try…" Nodoka lifted the lid off the bento easily and passed one of the pairs of chopsticks to the other girl before taking her own. Saki wasted absolutely no time in heading for the prawns she had prepared, picking one up and placing it near Nodoka's mouth. Nodoka immediately felt herself blushing, reluctant to open her mouth. _Oh my god. How did Saki-san manage this in that crowded cafeteria? _

"Come on Nodoka, you will think it's delicious, I promise!" she said with a bright smile, her face inches from her own. _The taste isn't the problem!_ Saki's other hand was playfully brushing her hair again and Nodoka did not think she would be able to calm down any time soon with the girl so close. "Is it… too embarrassing?" she asked timidly when Nodoka remained hesitant in accepting the food.

"N-" The cruel girl placed the food in her mouth before she could even get the second syllable out. _Oh my god, this… this is delicious._ The texture was fabulous, the taste was fantastic and it was sumptuously juicy.

Saki burst into giggles, "that's payback for last time Nodoka-chan!" she said with the laugh that Nodoka loved so much.

Nodoka smiled at her, "It was delicious, Saki-san" she told the laughing girl once she finished eating it.

It was easier after that, and Nodoka really enjoyed the way there was absolutely no pressure or tension, social or otherwise. They just enjoyed themselves together, as Saki suggested. Being fed by the girl was definitely a strange experience, but also a wonderful one. "Say ahhh" Saki would say, and Nodoka would happily comply. "Say ahhh" Nodoka would then intone after her, and they continued alternating like that without a care in the world. Nodoka realised how goofy they must look, but she was enjoying herself too much to mind.

Knowing the girl had made those foods with her in mind, that she had put the effort in for her and that she had looked forward to it so eagerly all enhanced the experience, but all of those things stood second to her smile. That smile never dropped from her face, and she laughed every time Nodoka fed her and whenever one of them managed to make a mess of things. Nodoka enjoyed even the act of simply watching her. Her smile was always was at its brightest every time she fed Nodoka which was the icing on the cake in making the experience unforgettable for her.

At one point Saki missed Nodoka's mouth and smeared sauce across the side of her face and she wasted no time in reaching with her own sleeve and cleaning it for her. Nodoka blushed crimson at that, scolding the girl for being so messy and dirtying her Shiraitodai uniform like that. The girl had just giggled uncaring throughout it, even going so far to say that she had missed a spot before kissing the side of her mouth. Nodoka wondered if the girl had really missed a spot, but quickly decided that the lie was a forgivable one even if she hadn't.

It was one of the few times since Nodoka had known the girl that she seemed truly carefree, her emotional baggage forgotten. Nodoka's own embarrassment at the messy kiss was overwhelmed by her pride at the way Saki was almost shamelessly enjoying herself in her presence. Nodoka had seen the girl smiling and happy before of course, but there was always an underlying worry and quietness about her, as though she were always mindful of the idea that Nodoka would leave her for some reason, like she was on the previous day. She also had a habit of being overly worried that she was a burden to people, and Nodoka thought that must be tied in, somehow.

Today she was different, and even earlier when they made the bento together she seemed less worried, although Nodoka did not acknowledge the significance at first. Nodoka was happy that Saki might finally be able to be completely relaxed with her.

Once they were finished with the food they sat back and had a light sleep together again, Nodoka's hand in Saki's, Saki's head on Nodoka's shoulder and Nodoka's own head resting against Saki's. They hadn't said anything to each other, but Nodoka knew it was what Saki would want to do, and it was what she wanted to do as well. _This really is so nice… This girl… she makes my life so much better… I want to do the same for her. I want her to feel as safe and as carefree as she is now all of the time._

Nodoka thought more about these things, and decided she ought to figure out what had caused Saki to be as such today, so she could recreate it in the future. _Maybe it's because we did something more normal for once. If she makes bentos every day for herself and her sister then it must have felt like her normal routine. Maybe I should suggest we make food together more often… _Nodoka smiled to herself at the idea. _Yes. That would be a start, and I would enjoy it too. _They certainly had enough ingredients left over for it; given the size of the bento compartments they had bought far too many of everything. Nodoka suspected they would be able to have the exact same food in the bento 3 or 4 more times accidentally fell asleep to those thoughts, and as she slept the smile stayed on her face this time.

Nodoka was the first to wake, and she enjoyed stretching out and looking at the adorable girl resting on her shoulder. She stayed sat there, resting her head on Saki's own. The act of sitting there in such a relaxed state had the effect that Nodoka had no idea how much time she had been awake for when Saki finally stirred. She didn't know for sure, but she thought she might have even dozed off again.

"Oh… hey there Nodoka-chan…" Saki said when she was fully awake. The unbidden smile that came to her face upon looking at Nodoka gave her all the right feelings.

Nodoka smiled as well, unable to help herself. "Hey there Saki-san."

"No bad dreams this time?"

Nodoka shook her head gently from side to side, "Not a one. I only dreamt of you."

The girl blushed immediately at that, as Nodoka knew she would. "Nodoka-chan!" she pouted.

Nodoka smiled and laughed behind her hand, and when their eyes met Saki joined her. When they were finished Nodoka suggested that they pick up their things and make their way back to the hotel.

"Yes okay Nodoka-chan… This was so much fun wasn't it?" she asked brightly. Saki, who was already stood up, held out her hand happily and, with Saki's assistance Nodoka was soon up on her feet headed back towards the hotel.


	21. Chapter 21 - Maho's time to shine

**Chapter 21 - Maho's time to shine**

* * *

Nodoka was cuddled up on the couch with Maho and Mako whilst Hisa and Kyoutarou were sat on chairs. They all stared dumbfounded at the screen. _A cape. Yuuki's wearing a cape._ The other club members seemed surprised as well, of course except for Maho who spent the entire time giggling at the silly girl. She seemed to have known it was coming.

"Oh my." The president said quietly, stifling a laugh behind her hand.

As Saki had predicted, Himematsu did indeed make it through, and their vanguard was called Ueshige Suzu who was a small girl with short black hair. The Eisui vanguard was Jindai Komaki, as expected, and the final team to make it were a school called Miyamori and their vanguard was named Kosegawa Shigomi. Yuuki was off to a flying start with a riichi on the third turn and Nodoka was impressed at how well she dominated the board.

Teru was watching the game with the entire Shiraitodai main team, and several of the substitutes were present as well. Her sister was currently failing at hiding her excitement at how well the Kiyosumi vanguard was doing straight out of the gates taking an early lead with some expensive and speedy hands. Saki was making quite a show of it and Teru did not fail to notice how confused the pair of substitutes who usually hung around Matano Seiko looked when Saki was hugging and celebrating with Awai.

Just when it seemed likely that the girl would go into the break with a large lead over Eisui Jindai fell asleep again. Saki and Awai both visibly reacted to it, and Teru also felt the power emanating from the girl. It was unfortunate Kiyosumi had declared riichi, which Jindai honed right in on directly hitting the girl for 24000, bringing both of the two teams up to about where they started from. _They are probably upset about that, but if you offered them breaking even against Jindai Komaki at the start of the game they would have taken it._

Next up was the girl with glasses who had lost a lot of points for Kiyosumi to a beginner in the final of their prefectural tournament, but she had clearly improved since then. In the previous match the girl had been surprisingly impressive, and today she was even better taking less points but from far superior opponents, taking first place for her team. Saki was ecstatic, but that was about to change.

_I can't face Mako with this point tally._ Hisa had well and truly choked this round, suffocating herself with debilitating thoughts during the match and losing a lot of points. The girls' name was Hiroe Atago and she was everything Hisa was not. A true ace, as Saki had told her. She was sure of herself, talented and eager to play mahjong. Even with the pressures of playing as the most important player for a prestigious school she seemed to be free in ways that Hisa was not. On the contrary, it seemed to boost her and give her confidence.

_'Nodoka and even Saki have problems playing these types of opponents… how am I supposed to do anything against them?' _She had started the game with those thoughts firmly implanted in her mind, and she had suffered the consequences. Once she began to look up she had fared far better, although if she told Nodoka this she would doubtlessly dismiss it as occult nonsense. The worst part was that in the process of losing those points she was heavily burdening her juniors now. In particular it was unfair for Maho who would now be up against some real opponents with all of that extra pressure.

She looked up at the scoreboard as if for confirmation.

Himematsu High School… 127,500… Atago Hiroe… +36,900

Kiyosumi High School… 97,700… Takei Hisa… -15,100

Miyamori Girl's High School… 90,000… Kakura Kurumi… -13,500

Eisui All Girl's School… 84,800… Takimi Haru… -8,300

_Minus 15,100…_ The fact they were still in a qualifying position was not much consolation. Eisui in particular had two extremely powerful players coming up. _No point in worrying about it now._ She pushed her hands down and forced herself up just in time to see Maho enter the room with a surprisingly happy look on her face.

"Don't worry president, Maho will save the day!" she called chirpily.

"Yes... thank you Maho. Sorry for not leaving you more points."

Maho gave her a thumbs-up and a big smile in response, "No problem! Maho's time to shine is here at last!"

Hisa lowered her voice, "Remember our plan for this match?" she asked the girl, "Make sure to properly defend against wind tiles when the time comes as well, you hear?"

"No problem president, Maho won't let her teammates down now!"

Hisa took her leave at that, "good luck Maho, and make sure to have fun." She turned and left the match room, happy at least that the girl seemed eager to play, even from the position she was in. Hisa figured it might have been the underdog position that appealed to Maho so much, and was happy the girl was in such high spirits. _I could probably learn a thing or two from her and her attitude._

She met concerned expressions when she arrived at the Kiyosumi viewing room, and immediately apologized for her low performance.

"Not at all president" Nodoka said easily, "Even the strongest players lose sometimes. That's just how mahjong is."

"Thanks… Nodoka." _Her stability really is reassuring sometimes._

"No problem at all."

"Ooh it's starting!" Mako said quickly, "Let's see what Maho can do for us here."

Maho's looked warily at her opponents. One was a girl by the name of Usuzumi Hatsumi who might even have been smaller in stature than Maho herself. She wore a yukata signalling that she represented Eisui. Another was a girl with short black hair arranged into buns who was, as expected, wearing a monocle. The scoreboard named her Usuzawa Sae, and her final opponent was called Atago Kinue, a girl with glasses who was sister to the ace that had defeated the president. She greeted the players warmly and took her seat.

**East round 1, Miyanmori Dealership-**

The round started with promise, with Maho managing to take the first hand with a very cheap Tanyao tsumo for 300/500. _Just like Nodoka taught me._ Maho was struggling to keep herself from being distracted however by the power that the girl from Eisui would be using soon, she could feel it already and Maho knew exactly how she would be using the power thanks to the president's advice. She couldn't wait.

Winning hand- 3W 3W 7W 8W 1P 2P 3P 4P 5P 6P [Chun Chun Chun] (9W)

Dora Indicator(s): 5S

Yaku: Yakuhai

"This is different from what we expected." the girl known as Tomoe began, "she didn't even attempt to win a single time in the match against Ryuumonbuchi besides that one hand."

"That's correct, maybe she has improved? We were expecting her to fold every hand regardless again; maybe we were wrong to assume that." Jindai intoned seriously, "Kiyosumi players in general seem to be fast players. Apart from their Lieutenant all of them seem to either be deliberately aiming for speed or have some kind of ability that makes them fast. Haramura Nodoka will certainly be the same, and is famous for her speed."

"Hmm… This match is more challenging for us than I thought it would be" Kasumi commented with a smile, "but at least I will get to play this time."

**East round 2, Himematsu Dealership-**

"Ron. 7700 please." Maho gulped and handed the Miyamori girl her sticks. _I played into her hand, and now I've lost second place…_ Maho had not been careful enough going for the pinfu hand and had been greedy and was trying for Sanshoku as well. Next up would be a dangerous round as well, where Eisui would be the dealer for the first time. _I can't deal into her no matter what._ Eisui were currently the major threat for second place and she had to stay as close to them as she could. She was relieved when the hand ended in a draw, and gladly announced that she was no-ten, the same as Eisui.

Hisa was anxious to see how her plan would work out. She hadn't noticed it when she studied the play records, but it became clear when she watched Miyamori's match on video. Their fourth player had some kind of ability where she could stop another player from completing their hand by simply staring at them. This was a problem; if Maho suddenly started calling wind tiles whilst she was north seat she would no doubt feel the brunt of that gaze.

**East round 3, Eisui Dealership-**

The shrine maiden was visibly distressed at being unable to complete her hand whilst she was north, but even Hisa was surprised when the girl deliberately played into Maho's hand so that she could remain in the north seat. It was only for 5800 points, but Kiyosumi needed everything they could get, so Hisa was happy when the girl took it. The girl from Miyamori was clearly staring straight at the shrine maiden the entire time, and all three players were keeping a hold of the useless wind tiles so far.

Ironically it was the shrine maiden herself who first played into a hand with the winning tile a wind tile. She discarded a west wind to go for an ittsu and as a result she dealt into Miyamori's chitoitsu. The girl, who was called Usuzawa Sae, rather than simply keeping a hold of her west wind tile had built her hand around making that tile her wait. The win ended Eisui's stay in the north seat.

Winning hand- 8W 8W 1P 1P 8P 8P 4S 4S 8S 8S Xia Haku Haku (Xia)

Dora Indicator(s): 1W

Yaku: Chitoitsu

The girl from Himematsu won the next round with a fast self-draw and Maho thought her style was somewhat familiar. _This girl's playing style is exactly like Nodo-chan's, but she's completely normal. I can't see any ability at all…_ On Himematsu's dealership, the Nodoka-like player won again with another medium-sized tsumo worth 2000 points from everyone, but her dealership then ended when Eisui finally won her first hand with a simple Yakuhai, managing to hit Himematsu with it, who was threatening to run away with it in first place.

Maho was feeling anxious. It was not the first time she had done so little in a match, but she was struggling to hold onto second place and would fall into last if the girl from Eisui managed to land one of her Yakumans, as Maho would take the brunt force of it as she would hold the East dealership seat whilst Eisui were north. Another problem was that the only offensive ability she had access to could easily be countered if Miyamori noticed it happening if what the president said was true.

**South round 3, Eisui Dealership-**

Maho drew all three of the South wind tiles herself at the beginning of the next hand, but was worried about Himematsu who had a pon of six-sous which was the dora tile that round. Her finger hovered over the south tiles. _I have no safe tiles against her apart from these. _She picked up the tile slightly but hesitated._ Now's the time to go for a win! _She dropped the tile back down and discarded the risky 2-sou instead.

"Riichi." She declared. It was the first time she had declared riichi in a competitive match (whilst she was lucid at least) and it caused butterflies to begin fluttering around in her stomach. But she was feeling much better when she ended Eisui's dealership herself with a direct hit on Himematsu. Her pair were both ura dora boosting her hand into a mangan. "Riichi, yakuhai and 2 dora. 8000 please." She said, happy that she had managed to break past 100,000. _President will be pleased._

Winning hand- 1W 3W 6P 7P 8P 1S 2S 3S 7S 7S Nan Nan Nan (2W)

Dora Indicator(s): Chun - 6S

Yaku: Riichi, yakuhai

"What? Kinue played into _her?!_" Hiroe was understandably baffled, and Suzu could not help but feel confused at the situation either. The girl whose play record was mediocre at best had just scored directly off Hiroe's sister.

Kyouko spoke up, "It's not that surprising really." She said simply, to the befuddlement of the room.

"Uhh, what do you mean?" the coach asked her, her finger placed on her chin.

"Well… Weren't her play records those of a complete beginner? It's only natural that she has improved, although I'm surprised she has improved quite so much. We have underestimated her, which is why Kinue dealt in." Kyouko did not take her eyes from the television, "It's almost as if… we are seeing the shadow of her sensei in her play now. The shadow of Nodocchi."

"Oh~!" the coach at least, understood, "That would explain it. Kinu-chan has been playing against her assuming she's still that same beginner player… "

Suzu was still confused, but the exchange seemed to satisfy Hiroe, so Suzu kept her quiet as well and watched on as the current hand ended in yet another draw, moving the game into the final hand. The second north round.

**South round 4, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

It was the final round, Maho was the dealer and it was her turn. She drew her tile._ Oh… Tenpai… but I have to discard a north wind to get into it_… She looked up at the Eisui girl's discards. _No winds, but she hasn't called any either yet._ Mako picked up the tile and discarded it, bracing herself as if for impact.

"Pon!" the Shrine maiden called happily, snatching the tile up and adding two more north winds to it. Maho could almost feel the anger from the girl wearing the monocle, but it wasn't "Ron" at least. Maho's relief was palpable when she picked up her winning tile. Aha it's here.

"Tsumo! 1600 all, please." She announced happily. The look the girl with the monocle was giving her when she placed the bonus stick down for the next round was almost too much.

Unfortunately, Maho was unable to get anywhere in the next hand and blew a sigh of relief when the round ended in a draw, relieving them of the first hanchan. No one had managed to stay in tenpai besides from Eisui and Maho had been scared half to death when she revealed she was tenpai for little four winds, and just needed a west or a south tile, of which Maho had one west in her incomplete hand. _Whew... that was close._

Himematsu High School… 125,300… Atago Kinue… -2,200

Kiyosumi High School… 105,700… Yumeno Maho… +8000

Miyamori Girl's High School… 93,200… Usuzawa Sae… +3,200

Eisui All Girl's School… 75,800… Usuzumi Hatsumi… -9,000

"Wow, Maho is doing really well, though I have to wonder why she decided to play on with Eisui on the north seat." Mako wasn't trying to sound surprised, but the idea that Mako could place first in a hanchan at this level was hard to get used to.

The president laughed at that, "That's just Maho being Maho. She just forgot that she has a choice there, and put down the bonus stick automatically. The Miyamori girl was livid! Maho really has improved though. She deserved her win here." she said, and she definitely seemed happier than she had after her defeat.

"She really worked hard with Nodoka and everyone at the training camp." Mako told her. Nodoka had already left with Yuuki to go and meet the girl so it was just Kyoutarou and the two of them in the Kiyosumi viewing room.

The president turned to Kyoutarou now, "It's a shame not all of our beginners can improve like that." she said.

"You are evil." Mako told her simply.

Kyoutarou just hung his head, "It's so unfair that I didn't get to go…"

Mako smirked at that herself. The guy never seemed to improve, so the idea that he would have improved as much as Maho had (or even at all) was pushing it, regardless of how many training camps he attended.

Maho was ecstatic with how well she had done in the first hanchan, actually coming in first place in a hanchan for the first time in a competitive match and it tickled her that she was at +8000 exactly. She hummed as she skipped back to meet Yuuki and Nodoka who had come to meet her. Today Maho was the hero, and she couldn't wait to brag about it to them.

Teru took the tea with a nod of appreciation when Takami held it out for her. The small purple haired girl that Awai was fawning over with Saki seemed to be radically improved from the previous set of matches, and Teru didn't have to stress herself to figure out who had been mentoring the girl. Awai had burst into giggles when the girl had landed that direct hit on the previously impenetrable girl from Himematsu, and seemed to genuinely be a fan of the girl for some reason.

"Awww…" Awai whined when the girl dealt into Miyamori immediately when the new hanchan began. "Who does that girl think she is anyway?"

Teru was quite relieved contrary to Awai's opinion. She had only dealt into that hand because of Eisui's early riichi, and had been too focused on dealing tiles that were in her discards, which wasn't an absolutely terrible mistake. The main reason Teru was relieved however was that in the previous hanchan the girl had been dealer whilst Eisui was on the north seat, but this time it would be Himematsu in the line of fire instead.

**East round 2, Himematsu Dealership-**

Maho looked up, worried. It was that time again, Eisui were in the north seat and the now familiar tension was back in the air and she had just dealt into Miyamori. Usuzawa Sae of Miyamori was sweating, but remained unblinkingly staring at the girl from Eisui high. Maho drew an East tile and wrote herself off for this hand. She didn't think there was any chance of going for a chitoitsu or somehow make it her pair wait and decided she would bail.

"Ron." Himematsu called, "Yakuhai, an Iipeikouu and 2 dora. 12000."

Maho handed her the sticks, confused. The girl seemed to have deliberately made her wait out of tiles that were already in Eisui's discards.

Winning hand- 4W 4W 5W 6W 6W 1P 1P 2P 3P 4P Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu (5W)

Dora Indicator(s): 2P

Yaku: Yakuhai, Iipeikouu

"It finally worked." Kyouko said, visibly relieved. "I thought that Kiyosumi girl would be free points given how she defends so stupidly, and it has finally worked out for us."

"It was only a mangan though. Was it really worth it to keep the shrine maiden in the north seat?" Hiroe asked.

"That's true, but it really puts the pressure on Kiyosumi now. She hasn't yet been directly hit when she defends like that so it will be interesting to see how she will react."

Sae was getting angry. On the second dealer bonus round, the hand ended in a draw which was the perfect opportunity to remove Eisui from the north seat… except that girl had kept her tenpai.

**East round 2, bonus round 2, Himematsu Dealership-**

"Kan." Everyone at the table looked up in fear at the sound of the small girl's voice, revealing a set of North winds. Sae was absolutely exhausted. _Why did she keep her dealership? She surely understands what is going on._ They had the perfect opportunity in the last hand to remove the girl from her north seat, but Himematsu had chosen to let her keep it. _That's it. If she wants to be dealer whilst she wins with a yakuman, she can be my guest. _

Sae relaxed her gaze.

Maho immediately bailed at the kan. Her hand was not amazing either way, and so she had had no problems doing such a thing, but now it was the fourteenth turn and she had no safe tiles left. Fortunately the girl to her left discarded a 4-pin, which Maho still had one of. She discarded it happily but it was soon her turn again. She didn't even have any suji left for Eisui's discard pile, but she still had a 1-pin which Nodoka would point out as suji.

"Ron." Maho's heart stopped. "Little four winds. 32000 please, and don't forget the bonus sticks!"

Winning hand- 1P 1P Nan Nan Xia Xia Xia {Pei Pei Pei Pei} [Ton Ton Ton]

Dora Indicator(s): 3W, 8W

Yaku: Little four winds

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"It gets worse and worse for Kiyosumi! You couldn't help feel sorry for the girl as she dealt into Eisui's Katsumi's little four winds there! How did this happen?!"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "Well it's not really a surprise that she struggled to defend in the late rounds with that weird style of defense she employs, and she has really paid for it. "**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"Kokaji pro, utterly merciless as usual. But we love her for it."**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "Wha-? It's not like… she wasn't unlucky there. Katsumi had just two small waits for completing her hand this time, that 1-pin or a south wind. The girl was clearly hoping suji would hold out for her, but suji only improves your chances, it never removes them."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And with that hand she has fallen into last place with just 59,500 points! Is there is any way for her to come back now?"**

**Kokaji Sukoya: "I don't know. It's really a shame. She's been called a beginner with some occasional incredible luck, but she's been far better than that today but had no luck at all."**

"Noooooo poor Maho. But she's so cute doesn't that shrine maiden bitch have a heart?!" Teru sighed. _She's not even attempting to hide her infatuation with the girl._

"Awai-chan you shouldn't use that language." Saki scolded, although she was clearly upset as well. Teru thought the yakuman wouldn't be such a threat with the girl not dealer, but that was only assuming she didn't deal in to it. She was miles and miles behind now, and Teru didn't think even the awakened Nodoka could possibly score enough points to win with these scores. Not against those opponents.

**East round 3, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

_I can't let it end like this… Yuu-chan and everyone will be so disappointed…_ Maho peeked up at the scoreboard, and immediately regretted it.

Himematsu High School… 138,300… Atago Kinue… +10,800

Eisui All Girl's School… 108,400… Usuzumi Hatsumi… +23,600

Miyamori Girl's High School… 99,200… Usuzawa Sae… +9,200

Kiyosumi High School… 54,100… Yumeno Maho… - 43,600

_What do I do…? I need to win! It's my dealership I just need to be like Nodo-chan…! _She flipped over her tiles and sighed in relief. I can make this work. _Just watch me Yuu-chan, I can play real mahjong too!_

"Tsumo! Tanyao, pinfu and tsumo! 2000 all!" _See? I can do it. Fast hands like Nodo-chan! I will emulate her winning streak now!_

Winning hand- 2W 2W 3W 4W 4P 5P 6P 4S 5S 6S 6S 7S 8S (2W)

Dora Indicator(s): Ton

Yaku: Tanyao, pinfu and tsumo

**Fukuyo Kouko: "A surprisingly good response from our player in last place, don't you think Kokaji-pro?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes. I didn't think she would win a round for a while after getting hit by that yakuman. Any player would be negatively affected by such bad luck, and the young vice-captain is only a first year."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Let's see if she can keep it up now! She will need a dealer streak if Kiyosumi want any chance of qualification now!"**

"Was that…? Nodoka's digital mode?" Hisa asked, whispering to make sure only Mako heard her.

The girl responded with shrugged shoulders, "It certainly resembled it. Maybe she's getting better now, what with her training with Nodoka and all?"

"No… I don't think it's that simple… She had really good decision making there. Way better than usual, and she discarded her tiles so fast. Maybe that big loss triggered something in her…?"

"I don't know president, but hopefully she can win big now. We really need it."

"Yeah… I just hope that that Miyamori girl is still too tired to stop her from winning come the north round."

"Will she use it next time?"  
"I think so… I told her to use it at the first opportunity if the shrine maiden managed to land one before the match. I just hope she's not too distraught to remember."

"She definitely responded well at least. Maybe she isn't as fragile as you thought, president?"

Hisa wondered about that. The girl was still obviously upset from the way she was slouching in her chair, and she now really had to land that yakuman for Kiyosumi to have a shot at qualification. If they went out because of her loss Hisa was not sure how long it would take for the girl to recover, assuming she was able at all.

**East round 3, bonus round 1, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

"Ron." Maho looked up, tears in her eyes. _But I needed a dealer streak…_ "Just a Yakuhai and riichi… 2900. 3200 with the dealer bonus." The girl from Miyamori told her.

"Okay…" Maho passed her the sticks

Winning hand- 8W 8W 8W 4P 6P 6P 6P 1S 2S 3S [Haku Haku Haku] (5P)

Dora indicator(s)- 5S

Yaku: Yakuhai, Riichi

**East round 4, Miyamori Dealership-**

Maho had not utterly failed yet however, she wiped her tears away. _I need to do it now. The president told me so that's what I will do._ The Miyamori reached towards the dice, but was hesitant for some reason. She glanced back at Maho as she finally pressed the button, and Maho stuck her tongue out at her. _You won't stop me!_

She picked up her tiles. _Perfect._ She had begun the round with two north winds and all four of the east tiles, and on the very first turn the dealer Miyamori discarded a north wind. _I guess she thinks it's safe because Eisui isn't north._

"Pon." She said with a smile. Miyamori probably wouldn't think anything abnormal about this because north was her seat wind so there was nothing strange about calling them, that's what the president had told her, so She would most likely not turn her gaze on her just yet. On her next turn she almost giggled when she received her first west tile. _That's right come to me. I will show you how this power really works._

Sae frowned at the cute little purple haired girl. The girl had suddenly let out ridiculous pressure, pressure enough to steam up her monocle even before the round had even started and she hadn't even looked at her, and then she ponned that set in the first hand. _I can't afford to let another competitor enter the running for second._

Right now it would be Miyamori and Eisui competing for the position, and Sae believed in Toyone to take the win there, even if she started it in third place. If Haramura Nodoka was able to compete as well it would be much harder for her, and if the girl did win with a big Tsumo it was Sae's own dealership this time. _I'm putting a stop to whatever that girl is doing._

"Oh that's a shame. Miyamori is staring at Maho, and so early. I didn't think she would have it in her or that she would notice. We might be out of luck here." Hisa said, and she was depressed enough that she forgot to keep her voice down in front of Nodoka, who wasted no time in responding.

"What do you mean president? What does that girl staring at Maho-chan have to do with anything?" she asked, apparently she had already completely forgotten about her conversation with her girlfriend.

"Nothing really… Nodoka, when you go to meet her could you please do the same thing for her that you did for me? It's going to be hard for her."

"She hasn't lost yet president, and she has the makings of a comeback hand here." She gestured at the television, "Look."

Nodoka was actually right. It seemed that Sae was barely able to keep her gaze on Maho at all, and for the third time had taken it off to wipe it clean and it was only the 5th turn. _Maho has three of the wests already._

"Kan." The girl said happily, revealing all of the west winds on the sixth turn. _My monocle is steamed up yet again… and her hand is still progressing… this girl is even more exhausting than the shrine maiden. I don't know if I can keep this up…_ The kan removed any doubts that she had left. The girl was going for a yakuman. She took off her monocle to clean it for the very last time. "Kan again." The girl said knocking over her set of easts, and in the same moment that the girl touched the dead wall the monocle cracked in her hands. _What?_ She got up instinctively from her seat, the monocle in pieces.

"What…?" she mumbled, the girls around her were looking at her in disbelief. "What…?" she repeated, staring at the purple haired girl. _This girl did this….? She is so much stronger than the shrine maiden…! My monocle… that was the coach's…_

**Fukuyo Kouko: ****_"_****It seems that Miyamori's Usuzawa Sae is having some technical problems Kokaji-pro."**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Hmmm yes it seems her monocle is broken."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Oh that's a shame. Was it because she was cleaning it too hard do you think? She has taken it off for cleaning a number of times during the game."**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "I wonder about that. She's only really been doing it so often in the latest round; I wonder why she felt the need to clean it so many times."**

Hisa watched in disbelief as the security man present in the game to prevent cheating cleaned up and removed the glass from the table. The girl nodded that she was okay to go on and soon enough they were back to playing. The consecutive kans had almost been too funny and had landed their star in tenpai with little four winds already completed. _I've obviously misjudged her ability… it's so much more powerful than I thought it was… I wonder if we can improve it further somehow._

Yuuki jumped up and cheered when the girl drew her third south tile, and announced the tsumo, "Tsumo. Big four winds. 16000 32000 please." Maho was clearly gleeful; her tears vanished from her face as she announced it, even performing a fist pump in the camera's direction, and finally seemed to realise she had scored it wrong. "Oh I'm sorry, I meant 8000 16000."

Winning hand- 1S 1S Nan Nan [Pei Pei Pei] {Xia Xia Xia Xia} {Ton Ton Ton Ton} [Pei Pei Pei] (Nan)

Dora Indicator(s): 7W, 1W, 9P

Yaku: Big four Winds

Teru couldn't believe what she was watching when the girl's power appeared to make whatever ability the girl from Miyamori had unusable, even destroying her monocle. She, her sister and Awai had all immediately felt it at the start of the round, despite not feeling anything when the shrine maiden's north seat was up. _That makes two players from the Nagano prefecture that have power that they can't properly control. I need to remember both this girl and the cold Touka demon._

"Oh my god she's so awesome!" Awai yelled, "That hand… that fist pump! So cute! And she even tried to score it as a double yakuman! We need to get her into Shiraitodai!"

Saki was laughing as she responded, "Isn't it great Awai-chan? Kiyosumi are back up to third!"

They weren't cheering for precisely the same thing, but they were hugging and smiling at the television together regardless. They were putting on quite a show for the Shiraitodai audience, in particular the members present who weren't aware of Saki's relationship with Haramura Nodoka. They were understandably confused by their enthusiasm. It wasn't the first outsider player Awai decided she liked, so it was Saki in particular who drew stares as she usually only ever cheered for Shiraitodai.

"What on earth…? From that girl?" Tomoe couldn't help but voice her surprise at the ridiculous hand the girl of Kiyosumi had just scored.

Jindai didn't seem fazed, "It seems our analysis of the girl was incorrect. Rather than simply powering herself up for one or two hands in a match, she must mimic other players."

Kasumi nodded at that, "But she seems… even stronger. I've never seen Hatsumi-chan score a big four winds without calling pon several times, but that girl only called a pon once on the very first turn."

"She was also too strong for Miyamori's ability." Jindai intoned seriously.

"Yes… although that might've just been because she was tired from stopping Kasumi for so long. But at least that means we get a shot at another Yakuman and this time it will be unobstructed."

**Fukuyo Kouko: "What is going on Kokaji pro? It's only just entering the south round and already we have had two Yakumans! And both of them were four winds yakuman! Kiyosumi's Yumeno Maho really knows how to showboat!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes… that girl really is interesting. She appeared to mimic Usuzumi Hatsumi of Eisui in that hand, incredibly making herself a double yakuman."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Our young girl from Kiyosumi even tried to score it as such, Kokaji-pro."**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes although she corrected herself quickly, she did seem to believe she had scored 64000 points for a moment, but that hand was very impressive. The girl from Eisui wins with her favoured wind yakuman surprisingly often, but it isn't usually as fast as that."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Incredible play from our girl from Kiyosumi! Have we ever seen such a fantastic response to being directly hit by a yakuman?! I tell you what folks; I bet you her opponents are glad that the rules don't include double yakumans this year!"**

**South round 1 Eisui Dealership-**

Maho looked up at the score, happier now.

1.) Himematsu High School… 126,000… Atago Kinue… -1,500

2.) Eisui All Girl's School… 98,800… Usuzumi Hatsumi… +14,000

3.) Kiyosumi High School… 92,200… Yumeno Maho… - 5,500

4.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 83,000… Usuzawa Sae… -7,000

Her overall score was not fantastic, or even as good as it was during the break, but she was no longer in last and could face Yuuki without feeling too embarrassed as it stood. _I can still do more!_ The idea of another hand with Eisui was a daunting one, and that was not far away now. After the current hand was over it would be time. Maho would not let herself deal in again.

"Tsumo. 4000/2000." Sae said clearly. _If they think that monocle is all I had then they can think again._ She collected the sticks, happy that she had retaken third position from Kiyosumi at least. _That hand was ridiculous._ Next up though Eisui would be seated on north again, and Sae could not afford to let her score another yakuman.

**South round 2, Himematsu Dealership-**

This time she would not even have her monocle and so was feeling particularly nervous as Himematsu rolled the dice. _Here we go._ She looked at her starting hand. _Damn it._ She had drawn a north tile, a tile that would likely be a dead weight in her hand for some time.

Maho had a different reaction to her own hand_. I can attack with this… but Eisui is north again… _She was just 2 away from tenpai. She shuddered involuntarily, and discarded a Haku. _Defending from the start lost me the game last time. I won't let it happen this time!_ After calling twice it was just the eight turn and she was in tenpai. Her hand was almost a mangan in value, just an open junchan with two dora, with a single wait on a 9-wan for her pair.

"Kan." The girl from Eisui called, still smiling. She revealed her four East tiles and discarded. Is it time? She drew her new tile. _A west tile… If I discard my 9-wan I can still win with a chanta! _She discarded the tile, weakening her hand but keeping the dangerous west tile. To her surprise on the next turn Miyamori actually discarded was her needed tile. _Why is she playing so risky? Is she that desperate to win the hand?_

"Pon." The girl from Eisui tried, but Maho was not having it.

"Ron!" she called, "Chanta and two doras. Just 3900 please. Wait sorry its not's 3900 it's erm… 5800 because you are the dealer, right?"

The girl nodded and handed her the sticks without a comment.

Winning hand- 1W 1W 2W 2W 3W 3W [9P 9P 9P] [1S 2S 3S] Xia (Xia)

Dora Indicator(s): 9W

Yaku: Iipeikouu, Chanta

Hisa couldn't help but laugh. Maho was still prone to beginner scoring mistakes like that although she didn't often make two on the same day. _I guess she's just too excited after winning with that yakuman._ The paleness of the girl from Himematsu was the icing on the cake. The girl had nearly jumped out of her skin when both Maho and the shrine maiden called her tile, and was palpably relieved when she realised she only had to pay 5800.

"Maho is really working hard for us today." She told no one in particular.

"Yes, she has done well although I have to wonder why she kept that useless wind tile there to make that wait. It reduced the value of her hand for no reason at all and she was only lucky that that girl discarded that tile. I'm also not sure about her decision to open her hand… with a bit of luck that could have been a baiman. She missed out on at least an Iipeikouu, and Junchan and possibly even a riichi and a tsumo too."

Hisa caught Mako's eye at that, and they both smirked at each other. _Never change, Nodoka._

"Oh that was greedy from your sister, Hiroe-san." Kyouko said, relieved, "but at least she didn't deal into the shrine maiden."

Hiroe continued to watch the television as she responded. "Yeah, but when you have a hand that big you can't help but try that kind of thing, right?"

Kyouko suspected that it was because of the girl she was talking to now that Kinue had tried it. It was the type of thing Hiroe would do herself, and it was well known to everyone in the club just how badly Kinue wanted her praise. Well, it was known to everyone besides Hiroe herself. The hand she had held onto could even have been worth a baiman with riichi and an ura dora, which was more likely thanks to the kan, but it was still not worth the risk, as Kinue well knew. She was lucky to get away with only minus 5800.

Kyouko watched with folded arms as Kinue closed out the game with two quick-fire back to back tsumos. _At last, some smart tactical play. That's what you do when you are in the lead!_

The scoreboard at the side of the screen was an encouraging one for Himematsu. Their team had done her proudly to get to this position, and Kyouko would now do everything she could to keep the lead.

1.) Himematsu High School… 123,600… Atago Kinue… -3,900

2.) Eisui All Girl's School… 93,600… Usuzumi Hatsumi… +8,800

3.) Kiyosumi High School… 91,700… Yumeno Maho… - 6,000

4.) Miyamori Girl's High School… 91,100… Usuzawa Sae… +1,100

Kyouko nodded in satisfaction. _Considering she got hit by so many tsumos, these results are more than acceptable._

Kinue entered the room then, "Sorry for not doing so well out there" she said.

"Kinu, what are you saying?" asked Hiroe.

"You preserved our lead so well though!" Kyouko added, "So chin up… 'cause if you don't, I don't know what I will do."

With that she left them.


	22. Chapter 22 - Monsters and Mayhem

**Chapter 22 - Monsters and Mayhem**

* * *

**Fukuyo Kouko: "And now our girls head into the final round, and they are all still in it folks! Eisui all girl's school, Kiyosumi High School and Miyamori will all be fighting it out for second place here! Less than 5000 points separate the three schools! Who do you think will make it, Kokaji pro?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "I think the favourite has to be Eisui high school's Iwato Kasumi. She is an established third year at Eisui, and is considered in some corners to be Eisui's strongest player. Considering their vanguard Jindai Komaki I think you have to give her the edge here. She also starts with a lead which is an advantage, even if it's just a small one."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "What about Haramura Nodoka? Her school have surprised us so far, and she did defeat last year's MVP Amae Koromo!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "That's true, we certainly can't rule her out yet, and the same goes for Miyamori's Anetai Toyone, who is relatively unknown so far."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Let's just hope her mahjong talent is as big as she is! She's huge!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Er… yes… I don't see what that has to do with-"**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "And now we are about to begin! If you need the bathroom still you have only got about 2 minutes left! Go get some food, drinks now if you need them. We will be back right after this message from our sponsor!"**

Nodoka was confident she would make it through. There were two positions available for once, meaning she could play it exactly like a game of net mahjong. Nodoka was armed with something else as well, something none of the other three teams had. Saki had told her exactly what to do. She was the first there, she uncovered a tile. South. She took her seat and awaited the competition.

The first to arrive was the purple haired Suehara Kyouko of Himematsu. She welcomed the girl politely who bowed in response. She drew the west seat to Nodoka's left. Soon enough the table was complete, and the girl Saki had been so scared of had drawn the first dealer. Nodoka took note of the scoreboard. 32,100 points behind Himematsu and just 1,900 behind Eisui all girls' school that were in first and second place respectively. Maho had left her in a very reasonable state. _I have no excuses; I will do my very best Saki-san._

**East round 1, Eisui Dealership-**

"Pon." The Himematsu girl opposite called when Nodoka placed down the 8-sou. _Oh dear, she's aiming for speed? She's playing cleverly just like Saki-san said she would. _

"Chi" the girl called on a 5-pin, completing another set with a dora.

"Tsumo." She announced, "Tanyao dora dora. 1000 2000." She revealed her hand, confirming Nodoka's fears. _She's fast._

Winning hand- 3W 4W 7W 7W 2S 3S 4S [5P 6P 7P] [8S 8S 8S] (2W)

Dora Indicator(s): 1W

Yaku: Tanyao

**East round 2, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

"Ron." Suehara Kyouko declared when Miyamori discarded a 4-pin. "Double yakuhai. 3200."_Saki-san was right. She's really fast and she's smart enough to go for small inexpensive hands to close out this match as soon as she can... She ended my dealership with that as well._

Winning hand- 2P 3P 6S 6S Ton Ton Ton [Haku Haku Haku] [7W 8W 9W] (4P)

Dora Indicator(s): 9P

Yaku: Double Yakuhai

**East round 3, Himematsu Dealership-**

Two could play at that game, "Chi." She called when the girl named Toyone discarded a 7-wan. "Pon." She called on a green dragon tile. She was soon in tenpai for Yakuhai, Sanshoku and two dora.

"Riichi!" Kyouko said.

Nodoka smiled to herself. _That isn't going to pass._ "Ron. Yakuhai Sanshoku and two dora. 12000." She said simply, happy with the way she had played it. By making the Pei her wait, she not only made her wait something her opponents would not expect as there was one just discarded a few turns ago, but also the extra four fu she received thanks to the seat wind and the pair wait she won on improved her hand's value to a mangan. She felt that her decision making was flawless in that hand._ I'm so glad she's watching._

"Oh… okay."

Winning hand- 5P 6P 7P 5S 6S 7S Pei [Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu] [5W 6W 7W] (Pei)

Dora Indicator(s): 5S

Yaku – Sanshoku (open), Yakuhai.

**East round 4, Miyamori Dealership-**

Kyouko took a double take. _I was sure she was wearing some kind of cosplay for a second there._ She looked around at the other two players, who were clearly seeing it as well. They were both staring at Kiyosumi and the tall girl of Miyamori had a massive smile on her face. _What on earth is going on? It's so much earlier than I thought it would be._

_ I need to stand and face these opponents. They are too good for me to win just by running away._ "Riichi." She declared on a good four-sided wait.

The big girl to her right looked up at that. "I'm going to have to go in pursuit." She said. _What is that supposed to mean?_

Kyouko did not draw a needed tile on her next turn and so promptly discarded it.

"Ron." The big girl smiled, tipping her hat. "Riichi Ippatsu and a dora. 5200."

Winning hand- 2W 3W 4W 5P 6P 7P 1P 2P 2S 2S 2S Nan Nan (3P)

Dora Indicator(s): 7W

Yaku – Sanshoku (open), Yakuhai.

_I lost on a four-sided wait to that one-sided one? I guess mahjong is like that sometimes but still… It's really frustrating._

**East round 4, bonus hand 1 Miyamori Dealership-**

_Hmm… this girl went for a pursuit riichi with that terrible wait? During a riichi on her own dealership no less? What can she be thinking? That kind of luck won't hold out for long. _

"Riichi." Nodoka declared. She had a pinfu tanyao with a good wait.

"If it passes, riichi."

Nodoka picked up a tile and immediately realised it was dangerous, but she had no choice but to discard it.

"Ron. Just riichi ippatsu. 4200 please Haramura-san."

"Okay." _She got lucky again, and this time against me... _

"Thanks!"

"Oh… no problem."

**East round 4, bonus hand 2, Miyamori Dealership-**

In the second dealer repeat the girl from Eisui won her first hand with a tsumo, "1300, 2600. Oh and also the dealer bonus sticks please. "

Winning hand- 9W 9W 9W 1S 1S 2S 2S 3S 6S 6S 5P 6P 7P (3S)

Dora indicator(s)- 3W

Yaku: Tsumo, Ippeikou

**South round 1, Eisui Dealership-**

_These girls are so fast. I can be too._ "Pon" Nodoka called on her last needed Chun, and in just 2 turns she was able to chi some useful Sous. It didn't take long after that to win the round. "Tsumo. Honitsu, Yakuhai and a dora. 2000 4000 please."

Winning hand- 2S 3S 5S 6S 7S 9S 9S 9S Nan Nan [Chun Chun Chun] (1S)

Dora indicator(s)- 4S

Yaku: Honitsu, Yakuhai

**South round 2, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

"Tsumo" she called, completing her hand again in similar fashion. After calling for a Haku this time and then again for a set of 1-pins she managed to complete her hand even faster, although it was much cheaper. She felt she had cleverly disguised it as a honitsu, although she still won by tsumo. "700 all please."

Winning hand- 9P 9P 3S 4S 5S 6S 7S [1P 1P 1P] [Haku Haku Haku] (2S)

Dora indicator(s)- 8P

Yaku: Yakuhai

**South round 2, bonus hand 1, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

In the next hand she was fortunate enough to start off with all three of her seat winds in her hand. "Riichi!" she declared quickly on the sixth turn. To Nodoka's increasing disbelief the girl who could easily be nearly six foot tall once again repeated the call.

"I'm going to go in pursuit again this time. Riichi."

She dealt the tile she received, resigned to her fate. "Ron. Riichi ippatsu and a dora. 6100 with the win bonus please." The girl had an extremely large smile on her face for some reason.

"Okay." She said, handing her the sticks.

"Thanks Haramura-san!"

"No problem… Anetai-san." _This girl is surprisingly polite. I have to wonder about her luck with these riichi though. Whilst her wait was a simple ryanmen like mine was… I can see all of the 9-pins on the board already… She really is riding her luck with those riichi._

Winning hand- 4W 5W 6W 6W 7W 8W 2P 2P 7P 8P 1S 2S 3S (6P)

Dora indicator(s)- 5P-2W

Yaku: Riichi, Ippatsu

**South round 3, Himematsu Dealership-**

_If I win fast with this…_ _I can overtake Miyamori and retake second place…_ "Pon" she called on just an east wind. It was neither a seat wind nor the round wind this time, but she felt like speed would be key for stopping Miyamori, who by her tiles looked dangerous.

"Tsumo." Haramura Nodoka called, "Just an open honitsu with a dora. "1300 2600 please."

Winning hand- 2S 4S 5S 6S 7S 7S 7S Xia Xia Xia [Ton Ton Ton] (3S)

Dora indicator(s)- 3S

Yaku: Honitsu

**South round 4, Miyamori Dealership-**

"Riichi!" the girl from Himematsu tried again. Nodoka found herself expecting the big girl to have a riichi as well, almost kicking herself for being so superstitious, but sure enough she did.

"Riichi." She said, almost apologetically.

"Ron. 2900. Just riichi ippatsu" _She did it again?_ Kyouko could not believe what was going on. _I haven't heard about anything like this in the preliminaries… but that makes the fourth time she has managed it against me and Kiyosumi. What is that girl's deal with her anyway? Calling Kiyosumi 'Haramura-san'? She's just weird._ The winning hand had good waits this time, but somehow that did not make Kyouko feel any better.

Winning hand- 6W 7W 7W 8W 8W 9W 1S 2S 3S 4S 5S 6S 7S

Dora indicator(s)- 8P - Nan

Yaku: 1S

**South round 4, Bonus round 1, Miyamori Dealership-**

_I want to try it again with this hand but… Maybe I should play this silent, even though my hand is so cheap without it… and I have such a good suji trap hidden wait and all of the 7-sou are already in the pond… so it even has kabe hiding it… Friggin' hell… This isn't mahjong at all…_

"Tsumo." She said, "Just Chitoitsu… 800 1600 please." Kyouko was almost kicking herself for not using riichi when she picked up her needed tile immediately. _It was barely worth winning without riichi and with that wait…_ _I should have gone with Riichi, it would have been at least a mangan…_ _Okay no problem, I just have to win a few dealer repeats and I'll be all set for the next round._ _I kind of want to check the ura dora… but that would be so embarrassing…_

Winning hand- 2W 2W 6W 6W 4P 4P 8S 8S 9S Xia Xia Chun Chun (9S)

Dora indicator(s)- 3W

Yaku: Tsumo, Chitoitsu

_Ack… They got me good here. That Miyamori girl… I lost so many points to those ridiculous Riichi pursuits…_ It was not just the direct losses because of them, but the indirect losses that frustrated her. The tenpai hands that had been thrown into the waste… and the points that were lost because she hadn't been able to use riichi… She sighed loudly and made her way up out of her seat.

**Fukuyo Kouko: "And that's it for the first hanchan everybody! How are you enjoying the game so far Kokaji pro?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "It's been really surprising. The supposed dark horse Anetai Toyone was the highest scorer, taking big points from Himematsu in particular and it means that our three-horse race for second position has opened up into a four-horse race for both positions. It should be really interesting in the next hanchan."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Eisui are currently sitting in last place. Your prediction was way off, wasn't it?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Waah… You shouldn't say it like that! I'm not perfect… but you shouldn't write Eisui off just yet. It should be interesting to see what she does though. She's a specialist in defending leads, but that won't help her here."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Kokaji pro just won't leave off these young girls for a second!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Ahh Don't say it like that. It has nothing to do with their age!"**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "Anyway, here are the scores for the final hanchan. Kiyosumi and Miyamori are neck and neck! Who will take second place and the overall victory?"**

1.) Himematsu High School… 108,100… Suehara Kyouko… -15,500

2.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 101,800… Anatei Toyone… +10,700

3.) Kiyosumi High School… 99,600… Haramura Nodoka… +7,900

4.) Eisui All Girl's School… 90,500… Iwato Kasumi… -3,100

Hisa was feeling slightly awkward. Once she arrived at the game area exit she had not waited 30 seconds before Miyanaga Saki joined her, out of breath. She had obviously ran all the way from the spectator's hall. Hisa almost decided to take her leave but figured that would make things even more awkward, and she also wanted to see the princess before she went back to the viewing room.

"Hey Takei-san! Is Nodoka-chan not out yet?" the girl asked her in-between breaths.

"Oh… Hello there Saki. She's not out yet no, come to see how she's doing?"

Nodoka appeared in the doorway before she managed to respond and she smiled immediately when she noticed Saki, "Oh you came to see me Saki-san!" _I knew I should have left._ The two girls were holding hands and seemed to be busy staring at each other when Nodoka finally noticed her standing there. "Oh I'm sorry president… I didn't see you there." She said, and seemed to be embarrassed.

"No don't worry about that right now Nodoka. I wanted to talk to you about the match."

"Oh... okay do you have some advice for me president?"

"On second thought maybe it would be better if Saki explained."

Saki nodded._ She understands at least._ "Come let's get out of the exit here" She took Nodoka by the hand in the along the hall, and stopped in the hallway. Hisa reluctantly followed them, feeling very much the third wheel. "Nodoka-chan, don't declare riichi anymore okay?"

Nodoka dropped her eyes at that, "Oh… Should I know why I shouldn't do that… this time…?"

"Actually I think maybe you shouldn't know… but you can do it if Miyamori opens her hand."

Nodoka stared at her blankly before very slightly nodding her head. If Hisa had blinked at the wrong time she might have missed it so tiny was the motion. _Our princess cannot deal with this girl at all._ If Mako were with them Hisa would have locked eyes with the girl to enjoy a good smirk at Nodoka's helplessness before Saki, it was a shame but she would just have to enjoy the sight of it by herself.

Saki wasn't finished, "Remember what we talked about for Eisui?" she asked her with a smile. Nodoka simply nodded again. "Okay then Nodoka-chan. Good luck! Keep it up you have been really good so far!" The girl then took a few glances around before taking a step towards Nodoka and incredibly then kissed the girl right on the lips in middle of the hallway, drawing a startled cry of exclamation from the princess.

Nodoka was suitably lost for words when the girl span around red-faced, singing her goodbyes and nearly running back the direction she came leaving Nodoka and Hisa behind, scratching their heads. _That was such a big risk… I wonder what would happen if that were caught on camera…_ Hisa chuckled at the thought, but fortunately Nodoka was too stunned to notice. Hisa stood there scratching her head; she could not figure Miyanaga Saki out. _Is she shy or is she bold?_ The kiss itself was particularly bold, but the way she went incredibly red faced so quickly indicated the opposite. _Well whatever, the princess seemed to enjoy it._

"Well…" Hisa began, struggling to contain her laugh, "I guess I should head off as well Nodoka. Good luck, okay?" she told the girl, but she did not get a response. Nodoka was still reeling from the kiss when she left her, failing to show any indication that she had heard Hisa's words at all.

_I can't believe she kissed me there… What is she doing here anyway? I was sure she would be watching from the Shiraitodai dorm… I'll have to ask her later._ Nodoka was slowly making her way towards the game table. All of her opponents were waiting for her so she quickened her walk-speed. _That girl… Saki-san… She's so… _Nodoka took her seat at the table and, realising that she was smiling and not even thinking about the match quickly took a deep breath in an attempt to snap out of it_. I have a match to play!_ She looked up and quickly realised that Miyamori were first dealer. _They are so close- I need to end her dealership quickly._

**East round 1, Miyamori Dealership-**

Quickly into the match, the girl named Anetai Toyone called on a hatsu with a pon. _Oh… I guess I can use riichi then…_ but she was not tenpai so continued playing normally. Nodoka knew, in the back of her mind, why Saki told her to not use riichi but she could not process it properly. There was a line Nodoka was not willing to cross and so not thinking about these things were the only way for her to be able to put the trust she had in Saki into practise.

The other players all looked on in astonishment as the girl continued to call tiles non-stop. "Chi." "Pon" "Chi"- it was really quite silly. Nodoka thought the girl was really playing quite badly. _It's so easy to read her like this_. The girl so far had called chi and several different wan melds in addition to her pon of hatsu. It was a blatant honitsu, and no one was about to deal into that when her final tile was so obviously either a wan or an honour tile.

To her disbelief the girl won on the very next turn after her final call. "Tsumo. Honitsu and yakuhai. 2000 all please."

Winning hand- Nan [2W 3W 4W] [5W 6W 7W] [8W 8W 8W] [Hatsu Hatsu Hatsu] (Nan)

Dora Indicator(s): 1P

Yaku: Honitsu, Yakuhai

**Fukuyo Kouko:** "**And Himematsu finally lose first place! How will that girl be feeling Kokaji-pro?!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Suehara Kyouko is renowned for her clever play, but she has lost a big lead here and is now in danger of falling to third place so she will need great mental strength to succeed from here."**

**Fukuyo Kouko: "And the first bonus hand begins! Can Miyamori give us a renchan here?!"**

**East round 1, bonus hand 1, Miyamori Dealership-**

And they started again; it was the first bonus round. Nodoka watched as the girl made four ridiculous calls once more and then won instantly after spending just one turn with a single tile. _Again..? Some players just have insane luck. Playing like that is so silly and so illogical. _Her hand was worth 2700 from everyone this time and had another Yakuhai, but this time the real value of the hand came from her 2 doras. Nodoka handed her the points without a word.

Winning hand- 5S [1W 2W 3W] [5P 6P 7P] [9S 9S 9S] [Chun Chun Chun] (5S)

Dora Indicator(s): 8W

Yaku: Yakuhai

1.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 115,900… Anatei Toyone… +24,800

2.) Himematsu High School… 103,400… Suehara Kyouko… -20,200

3.) Kiyosumi High School… 94,900… Haramura Nodoka… +3,200

4.) Eisui All Girl's School… 85,800… Iwato Kasumi… -7,800

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And Himematsu are now firmly in second place! Miyamori with two unorthodox wins there Kokaji pro."**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes they were interesting. The girl is clearly versatile, quickly changing her pursuit riichi for this strange calling style, but you can't deny those results."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"The captains match is really heating up! And it's still in the east first round! Let's get back to our players, who are now entering the third bonus round of Miyamori's dealership."**

**East round 1, bonus hand 2, Miyamori Dealership-**

The girl incredibly began calling again immediately in the next round with Miyamori calling two different sets of tiles quickly, but Nodoka had a good hand and was in tenpai. "Riichi!" she placed her riichi stick into the middle. The large girl of Miyamori looked up at her with a smile at that. _Saki-san said I'm allowed to now, so I'm going to win this! _

"Tsumo." Nodoka called out, relieved. "Riichi, tsumo, Iipeikouu and 2 dora. 2000 4000 please. With two bonus sticks as well."

Winning hand- 1W 1W 2W 2W 3W 3W 6S 6S 7S 8S Pei Pei Pei (9S)

Dora Indicator(s): 4W - 9W

Yaku: Riichi, Tsumo, Iipeikouu

**East round 2, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

Iwato Kasumi was watching the girl who was holding the toy penguin with interest. She couldn't sense when she was tenpai at all and had been completely surprised with the riichi. _Oh my…_ There seemed to be feathers emanating from the girl. The same girl then won with a surprise ron for 11600 on Miyamori in the following hand. The girl had managed to get into tenpai with that hand extremely quickly. Kasumi had not dealt into any hands so far but she had still lost a lot of points from self-draws, and was firmly in last place. _Oh my…I have to use it now._ Kasumi was not used to using her abilities offensively, but she had no choice anymore.

1.) Kiyosumi High School… 115,100… Haramura Nodoka… +23,400

2.) Himematsu High School… 101,200… Suehara Kyouko… -22,400

3.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 100,100… Anatei Toyone… +9,000

4.) Eisui All Girl's School… 85,800… Iwato Kasumi… -10,000

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And Kiyosumi take first place for the first time since the sergeant match! Haramura Nodoka's name echoes throughout the nationals!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes… Two big wins from Kiyosumi High School's ace Haramura Nodoka there. Her fans will certainly be pleased with her performance so far."**

**East round 2, bonus hand 1, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

Kyouko looked up; the Eisui girl seemed almost to demand her attention. She suddenly let out tremendous pressure, bringing an involuntary twitch that discomforted the girl. Miyamori was clearly frightened as well, but Kiyosumi did not seem to notice anything wrong. _What am I supposed to do against these monsters?_ Kyouko had heard that Haramura Nodoka was a normal player as well, but she had found that hard to believe after hearing the girl had beaten Amae Koromo, and there was obviously nothing normal about her digital mode now that she had seen it for herself.

The Eisui titty monster knocked down her tiles. "Tsumo. With honitsu, yakuhai and the dora… That will be 6100 3100 please." _Ahhh and it's my dealership next. What can we do to stop this girl before she pulls away?_ _This frigging table is just insane. I want to give up- I have no place amongst this circus of monsters. _

Winning hand- 1P 2P 2P 3P 3P 4P 8P 8P 8P Xia Xia Xia Nan (Nan)

Dora Indicator(s): Ton

Yaku: Tsumo, Honitsu, Yakuhai

**East round 3, Himematsu Dealership-**

Kyouko sat back in her seat, frustrated. _No! I can't give up, but is there anything I can do against these players and their abilities?!_ She looked up at Eisui's discards. She was the only player to have discarded a sou tile at all. Kiyosumi and Miyamori were both discarding everything but sou tiles were conspicuously absent from their discards. _Do they see this ridiculous situation as well?_

"Tsumo!" _Oh please don't let it be…_ "Chinitsu, Iipeikou and tsumo. 8000 4000."_ This is no fun at all… It's so expensive and it just had to be on my dealership, and it's hers next… she doesn't even have to think about defending when she is the only one picking up sou tiles… I want to play some real mahjong…_

Winning hand- 2S 2S 2S 4S 4S 6S 6S 6S 7S 7S 8S 9S 9S (8S)

Dora Indicator(s): 3P

Yaku: Tsumo, Iipeikouu, Chinitsu

1.) Eisui All Girl's School… 111,900… Iwato Kasumi… +18,300

2.) Kiyosumi High School… 105,000… Haramura Nodoka… +13,300

3.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 93,000… Anatei Toyone… +1,900

4.) Himematsu High School… 90,100… Suehara Kyouko… -33,500

**Fukuyo Kouko:** "**And we have a new leader yet again! This time it's Eisui, and this will be the first time they have been first in the entire MATCH Kokaji-pro!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes… They definitely have some good timing here. Iwato Kasumi is finally showing us her strength, taking first with some incredible hands. She had been quiet so far, but she has certainly struck fear into her opponents now."**

**East round 4, Eisui Dealership-**

_ I can't believe this… I have fallen to last place… _And in the current hand it didn't take long for Kyouko to recognise that the man tiles were missing from her hand._ Does it ever end?_

Nodoka knew it was time. She was feeling nervous about the ridiculous thing she was about to do, but she had promised Saki she would do it if Eisui started winning with single suit hands, and now unbelievably she was. She watched mournfully as Eisui discarded her needed hatsu on the first turn. _I'm not allowed to call that…_ _This is so embarrassing._ Himematsu, following standard play also discarded a hatsu.

"Erm… pon…" she said, her face was bright red as she took the tile, and all of the girls reacted to it, looked up at her with expressions that were too easy to read, even for Nodoka. _They think I'm stupid_, _and I can't say that they are wrong._

"Let's see, Nodoka-chan." Saki was holding her hand whilst her other hand was pointing at things she had labelled on the cute diagram she had drawn. "You have to call tiles so that the ones that you or someone else would draw land on Eisui, and so that Eisui's tiles land on someone else as well, you see? Like this." She gestured with her hand, "If she is to your left you shouldn't call on her tiles at all, no chis no pons, you see? They would make her tiles fall on you. You have to make sure Eisui's draws will never land on you, okay?"

Nodoka could not find it in herself to respond_. I promised to do what she said but this is just ridiculous._ _For all I know calling these tiles could change the drawing order so I receive useless tiles instead of good ones… and my hands will definitely become worse with such ridiculous calls._

Saki seemed to know exactly what she was thinking."You don't need to worry Nodoka-chan. Do your best to trust me. I'm sure you will get through this round if you do it. And you will still be able to go for open Tanyao, yakuhai and other hands like that, right? You like those hands, right?"

"…. I guess… but I won't be able to score with any closed hands this way… those are important too… And I really don't understand why it would help Saki-san… For all we know this kind of thing could change her drawn tile to a useful one for a chinitsu or a honitsu or whatever she's going for… there's no reason to think it will prevent it… no reason at all."

"I know this is hard for you Nodoka-chan… but I'm sure it will work! I'm just sure of it! You should make these calls every time you get the chance too, even if it's something you would never consider doing…."

"Erm… like what…?"

"Open kans when the rest of your hand is still closed…. Chi's on sequences you already have all the tiles for. That kind of thing."

"Right…" Nodoka felt the tears forming at the mere idea of doing that, "Saki-san I just really… hate this kind of thing… please don't make me do it… please…"

The delicate girl had looked after her after that, gently holding her in her arms without saying another word. Nodoka had eventually agreed to do it of her own accord after allowing herself to be held for a while by the girl, but it had not been easy. Her motivation was a simple one. _I'll do it because I promised. I'll do it for her._

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"Ermm what is Haramura Nodoka doing there, Kokaji pro? She passed that needed honour tile only to call it immediately afterwards. Perhaps she wanted to keep her hand closed, but then was forced to call the next one as it was the final hatsu?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "No I don't think so. That kind of play is unnecessarily risky and wouldn't be like Haramura Nodoka at all, especially with her position in second place. I think it must have been to counter Eisui. If she called Eisui's hatsu the drawing order would favour the other two teams. Kiyosumi and Eisui's hands would be slowed down, but Himematsu and Miyamori would be about the same. By calling off of Himematsu she slows both Eisui and Himematsu down, whilst she and Miyamori stay about the same."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"I did not understand a word of that! But hopefully our viewers did!"**

Kyouko could almost have throttled Haramura Nodoka when she received her first wan tile of the round; an utterly useless and ridiculously dangerous tile that she couldn't possibly hope to use. _Why did she have to slow me down? I'm in dead last for frig's sake._

"Kan." The first kan of the game, and it was an open one at that, called when Miyamori discarded a 3-pin. A very strange, reckless move from the supposed net mahjong specialist Haramura Nodoka, Kyouko did not fail to note and funnier yet was that the supposed net specialist began to feel extremely strange when she made the call. It wasn't the same as the pressure generated by Eisui, but it made her feel almost nauseous. She then flipped the dora indicator to reveal the new dora was the set of hatsu she had called from Kyouko herself. _No way… Am I really supposed to believe she's normal? Yeah friggin' right._

"Tsumo!" the 'normal' player called. "Just a yakuhai and 3 dora. 4000/2000 please."

Winning hand- 9W 9W 9W 4W 5W 6W 6W [3P 3P 3P 3P] [hatsu hatsu hatsu] (3W)

Dora Indicator(s): 2W, Haku

Yaku: Yakuhai

1.) Kiyosumi High School… 113,000… Haramura Nodoka… +21,300

2.) Eisui All Girl's School… 107,900… Iwato Kasumi… +14,300

3.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 91,000… Anatei Toyone… -100

4.) Himematsu High School… 88,100… Suehara Kyouko… -35,500

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And just like that, Haramura Nodoka retakes first place! How many more times will we see first place change hands?!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "I honestly don't know… Anyone could finish in first place at this rate, but the smart money will either be on Iwato Kasumi, who looks like she's ready to score a lot of points for her team, or Haramura Nodoka who countered it extremely well there. I'm really impressed with how fast she came up with that strategy she is using."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"Haramura Nodoka is taking this match by storm! Will Eisui be able to beat her?!"**

**South round 1, Miyamori Dealership-**

_Friggin' booby monsters on either side of me. I bet they think I'm already out of it._ "Pon!" she called on a 3-pin dropped by Miyamori and then again once she discarded a South wind. _Two can play at this game, I'm not dead yet!_ She had changed the drawing order so that Eisui's tile would fall on Nodoka and vice versa, leaving her own and Miyamori's tiles unchanged. This round was in her favour.

"Ron!" she called when Nodoka discarded a 9-pin. _I got you!_ "Toioi and yakuhai! 6400!"

Winning hand- 9P 1S 1S 1S Pei Pei Pei [3P 3P 3P] [Nan Nan Nan] (9P)

Dora Indicator(s): 5S

"Okay" Kiyosumi's booby monster replied emotionlessly.

Kyouko was annoyed at how indifferent sounding the girl was when she handed her the points, and the next round was that same booby monster's dealership.

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And Himematsu is the one who knocks Haramura Nodoka's Kiyosumi out of first place, giving the lead to Eisui!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes, we finally see another win from Himematsu who makes it back out of last place. It will be interesting to see who goes through from here. Our dark horse Miyamori are now in last place unfortunately, despite how promising the round began for them."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"What happened, Kokaji pro?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Well I can only speculate but I think that Eisui's emergence with her big single suit hands has really put her off-balance."**

**South round 2, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

To Kyouko's growing discontent, Haramura Nodoka wasted no time in calling her tiles.

"Chi." _Why do I have to be seated here? The drawing order won't favour me if I call tiles from Eisui… which wouldn't be a problem but it means that unlike Kiyosumi I can't ever call a chi, and I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to... she never discards the two suits I have… And if sitting after that booby monster isn't bad enough, I have to sit before this other booby monster who is constantly calling my tiles… she's making Eisui's pin tiles all fall on me with those chis… if I get directly hit by a chinitsu I might be finished… _Kyouko almost laughed out loud. _This is just like 3-player mahjong. I can't call chi and I only have two suits. This match is a shambles. It would be a joke to call this real mahjong at all._

After two turns when Kyouko finally had gotten rid of Eisui's pin tiles she discarded her last useless tile for tenpai "Chi." Kiyosumi called out, relentless. _Again?!_ _She called my tile again?!_ _I can't take this anymore…_

"Ron." The girl from Kiyosumi called, when Miyamori next discarded. "Tanyao only. 1500 please."

Winning hand- 2W 2W 3W 3W 3W 6W 8W [2S 3S 4S] [6S 7S 8S] (7W)

Dora Indicator(s): 9W

Yaku: Tanyao

**South round 2, bonus hand 1, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

Kasumi was worried, it was the Kiyosumi girl's dealership again thanks to her win, and that pink haired girl representing them was letting off her strange aura again. It was a lesson in oddness playing against this girl, who felt like absolutely nothing the majority of the time, but at times felt so weirdly eerie that she might even have preferred to be up against Miyanaga Teru again. That pressure was definitely stronger and more terrifying, but that pressure slowly built up over time which at least made it predictable; it didn't surprise you out of the blue like this girl did.

The girl had quickly called kan on a Chun, discarded by Miyamori this time. Kasumi wasn't sure what to do, her goddess had been completely bypassed by Haramura Nodoka and her calls, and she had done it again. She took one look at her new red five sou and added it to her line of pin tiles. _It's obviously dangerous and because of the dora indicator it's worth two han... I have to defend again here. _Kasumi might have had to attack anyway if she was not in a qualifying position, but she fortunately did not need to take a risk like that right now.

"Tsumo." Haramura Nodoka called calmly. _She has kan dora again._ Her two north winds were both dora and she also had honitsu and an iitsuu and also a red five-wan. _It's lucky her hand is open- it would have been a dealer baiman if that kan was concealed. _"6100 all please." Kiyosumi told the table.

Winning hand- 2W 3W 4W 5W 6W 7W 8W 9W Pei Pei [Chun Chun Chun Chun] (1W)

Dora Indicator(s): 4S, Xia

Yaku: Honitsu, Yakuhai, Iitsuu

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And she tsumos the haneman! UNBELIEVABLE PLAY FROM HARAMURA NODOKA!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes… I think she may have sealed her team's place in the next round with that big win. Her hand had kan dora in it again, too. Her famous victory against Amae Koromo in the Nagano prefectural tournament also involved a big kan-dora heavy hand… I wonder if there is anything of significance behind those wins."**

"We were wrong again it seems." Jindai commented, who was still awake, serious in both her demeanour and her words. "Haramura Nodoka seems to get kan dora in her hand every time she calls kan. I'm now sure it was not coincidence at all in her match against Amae Koromo, even though her play records in the individuals show us that she didn't get any kan-dora… I am at a loss as to how it triggers."

"Maybe it's only when she herself declares kan?" Hatsumi asked.

"Possibly, but she declared kan just twice in the 30 or so games she played at the individuals, and she received no kan dora on those occasions nor did she receive any when her opponents declared it, and she didn't declare kan a single time during the inter-middle individuals. She also played against Miyanaga Saki in the final, and never received a single kan dora there either, even though that girl made it to kan as often as she always does."

"She lost that game though right? She's not that strong… right?"

"Yes… but only just. There must be something to it that we can't see."

Hatsumi was still confused, "She had a few chances to call open kans in the first hanchan, why didn't she do that?"

Jindai put her finger to her lips in thought, "Hmm that's a good point, and I honestly don't know. It must be to do with the way she triggers I guess. But don't worry; I believe that Kasumi-chan will still make it for us."

The three of them were soon silenced, however.

**South round 2, bonus hand 2, Kiyosumi Dealership-**

_ I'll show these girls what happens when you disregard someone just because they don't have an ability. Come to me! Tiles! Yes excellent._ Kyouko's hand was really coming together. Miyamori's Toyone discarded a needed 9-wan, but that wasn't enough to get her the points she needed_. If I had declared Riichi would I have won with an ippatsu? Or would she have pursued me again? This sucks. Frigging monsters. _

She picked up the 6-wan that would see her through. _YES!_ "Tsumo!" she announced, ecstatic. "Tanpin, Ryanpeiko tsumo, 3200/6200 please!" _I have taken second place! I will do anything to keep this position now! _Kyouko eyed the dead wall eagerly._ I kind of want to check the ura dora… but it'd be so embarrassing…_

Winning hand- 4W 4W 6W 7W 7W 8W 8W 3S 3S 4S 4S 5S 5S (6W)

Dora indicator- 9W

Yaku: Tanyao, Pinfu, Ryanpeikou, Tsumo

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And Suehara Kyouko gets a ryanpeikou! Himematsu have come back to take second place! UNBELIEVABLE!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "Yes… extremely determined play from Suehara Kyouko. I'm extremely impressed that she is still giving it her all. It would be understandable if she had given in considering the lead she gave up."**

**South round 3 Himematsu Dealership-**

Nodoka looked up at the scoreboard quickly,

1.) Kiyosumi High School… 120,200… Haramura Nodoka… +28,500

2.) Himematsu High School… 101,000… Suehara Kyouko… -22,600

3.) Eisui All Girl's School… 98,600… Iwato Kasumi… +5,200

4.) Miyamori Girl's High School… 80,200… Anatei Toyone… -10,900

She knew what was needed now.

Toyone didn't know how she could possibly deal with these girls. They really were fantastic; Haramura Nodoka in particular was not a let-down. _I have to win; my team is counting on me!_ The other girls were not declaring riichi anymore at all, so she would have to make use of her Tomobiki instead.

"Pon!" she called when Himematsu dealt her seat wind tile.

"Chi!" this time off of Haramura Nodoka.

"Tsumo." Haramura Nodoka called when her turn came up once more. "Tsumo, ittsu and 2 dora. 2000/4000 please." _She's so fast. I need to score with a baiman or higher next turn or we are out…_

Winning hand- 1W 2W 3W 4W 5W 6W 8W 9W 2S 3S 4S 4S 4S (7W)

Dora Indicator(s): 5W

Yaku: Tsumo, Ittsu

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"Oh wow have we ever seen a match with two competitors so close in points in the final hand? Only 400 points separate Eisui All Girl's school and Himematsu High School! What can be going through the players' minds? I wonder who will manage to take it!"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "I would normally have said Eisui were the favourites except our girl from Himematsu has shown us a lot of courage and determination so far. The two of them will surely focus on speed in the final hand; it will be interesting to see who can take it."**

Kyouko stared at the points board.

1.) Kiyosumi High School… 128,200… Haramura Nodoka… +36,500

2.) Himematsu High School… 97,000… Suehara Kyouko… -26,600

3.) Eisui All Girl's School… 96,600… Iwato Kasumi… +5,000

4.) Miyamori Girl's High School … 78,200… Anatei Toyone… -12,900

_400 points. Oh my god 400 points ahead of the booby monster but at least she's the dealer… That means if Kiyosumi tsumos I'm through… I can't rely on Miyamori though, that girl will want to go for a big enough hand to knock me out. I just have to play this fast, and I will win. I can win this, I won't let that booby monster win this hand! I will win faster than you!_

Her tiles were decent and she went to work but Kiyosumi wasted no time in calling a Chi when she discarded a tile in the sixth turn. She looked at Eisui's discards, the 4-pin she had picked up was a live tile and could easily be one that Eisui needed. _I have to bail thanks to that frigging booby monster from Kiyosumi. Why is she even still playing? She's already through!_ She looked at Eisui's tiles and placed down a 1-man, a tile Eisui would not possibly need and the tile was already present in Miyamori's discards.

It was the booby monster on her right, and not her left who knocked down her tiles, "Ron." _What? Noooooo no what are you doing?_ "Pinfu only. 1000 please."

"Nooo… poor Kyouko-chan…" Their sub-coach seemed to be the most devastated out of everyone, despite the rather glib way Kyouko talked to her sometimes, even wiping away tears. Suzu could completely understand that. It was devastating to go out in such a way, and even though they all knew that Kyouko was perhaps their most important player, even if not their best point scorer, she would still blame herself.

"I can't believe we are out…" said Hiroe, "I was sure we would win with Eisui as the final dealer…"

Suzu nodded, "It really hurts to go out like this… Why did Kiyosumi have to do that?" she asked. She got no response. Everyone in the room was too depressed to talk, and judging by how Kyouko looked it seemed that they weren't the only ones. Just watching the girl who had done so much for her in so much pain was difficult for Suzu.

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"And just like that it's over! What a turn of events, Himematsu was so busy defending against Eisui that she seemed to discount Haramura Nodoka. With that final hand Eisui will join Kiyosumi in the semis in a strange comeback victory! Did you ever find yourself in this situation when you played at the inter-high championships all those twenty years ago, Kokaji-pro?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "… It was ten years ago! And I was never in that situation I'm afraid."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"What would you have done in Kiyosumi's shoes?"**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "I honestly don't know… but it is admirably professional of her. Some players might have been tempted to try and allow Himematsu through to the next round. I mean no disrespect of course, but Eisui are the scarier team on paper."**

**Fukuyo Kouko:** **"Kokaji-pro, I like it! 'Don't kick a dog whilst it's down!' is a silly saying, I absolutely agree."**

**Sukoya Kokaji: "What?! That's not what I did at all…!"**

* * *

**END**

**Note: About next release, my plan is to reach up until the conclusion of the semi-final with it. Without giving too much away, I have a very large amount of words so far and I have not yet finished it. Hope you enjoyed it up to this point. I certainly enjoyed writing it****.  
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